In finding out more about the Sneyd family I was lucky to have the help of Heather Mountjoy, who has spent a great deal of time helping me look up births, deaths, etc, both in England and in New Zealand.

Alfred was born in Bath Morriston. District of Llangefelach, Counties of Swansea and Glamorgan, in 1864. (I have a copy of his birth certificate.) However, his father died in 1871 (in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire according to freebmd) and by 1873 his mother had remarried Isaac Martin Bradshaw in the district of St. Saviour, London/Surrey (from freebmd.rootsweb.com). In the 1881 census Alfred is shown living with his mother Margaret and step-father Isaac, a gardener, in Lower Bullingham, Herefordshire.

According to ship records in NZ, A. Sneyd arrived in Auckland on Feb 20th, 1886, on the ship Lady Jocelyn, that left London on Nov 11th, 1885, under Captain Watt. There was (apparently) a report on this arrival in the New Zealand Herald, Feb 22nd, 1886, although I have not seen it. Also on board the Lady Jocelyn was a Thomas Sneyd and his wife, Martha, almost certainly the uncle and aunt of Alfred. (According to Heather Mountjoy, Thomas Sneyd married Martha Robins in 1869 in Swansea). Thomas and Alfred appear on the electoral roll of the Bay of Islands in 1893, living at Mangonui Bluff. Martha died in 1913 aged 68 and Thomas died in Dargaville on 4 Mar 1916 aged 66.

According to Pop (his son, Alfred) he was an Engineer. His death certificate says he was a marine engineer, and that he married Mary at Aratapu, which is just south of Dargaville. Nothing now exists of Tokatoka save the name Tokatoka Road (which is right by Arapatu), just across the water, Tokatoka Tavern (which I’ve never visited) and Tokatoka peak, which has a walk up to it.

Another of Alfred’s uncles, Robert, came to NZ with his wife and three sons, and set up a pottery business in Makarewa, just north of Invercargill, around 1884. This met all kinds of resistance, both from the pottery business at Milton, as well as because people didn’t want to buy locally made ware. Robert died in 1892 and his business, then run by his sons Arthur and Charles Frederick, went bankrupt in 1894. Charles Frederick’s wife, Nancy Littlewood Sneyd, was killed in the famous 1901 incident with a signal rocket in Invercargill, and C.F. Sneyd later moved to Kaiapoi.

The earliest Sneyd in Kaiapoi was Dryden Henry Sneyd, who came out in 1853 or so, leaving in 1866. Sneyd St. in Kaiapoi is named after him. Dryden was a member of the rich and famous Sneyds. However, the move of Charles Sneyd to Kaiapoi appears to have been merely a coincidence, and there is no connection between D.H. Sneyd and my lot.

Raised in Dargaville (I think), her brother, Harold Anderson, owned the sawmill there. Wedding details in family Bible. Suffered from rheumatoid arthritis? Buried at the Mangere Cemetery. Pop always said that she was born in Dargaville, but her birth certificate shows Christchurch. But her parents were married in Auckland, so I guess they moved around a bit.

A quote from a web page about Dargaville (http://www.kauricoast.co.nz)
“Built many years prior to the First World War, this mill continued to operate up until the 1950's. The greater part of its life span was catering for local needs rather than export. The mill was established by Anderson and Sundberg, and was known as Anderson's Mill for many years. In the latter part of its life it was owned by the Rope Family. In 1954 a new company was formed by Morse and Ramsey which continued until 1970, when the mill was dismantled and re-erected at Parore, a little North of Dargaville. The original mill site was upgraded and now forms part of the waterfront area of Dargaville. The extent of the site was from the Northern Wairoa Boating Club to that land now occupied by Woolworths supermarket. “

Details in family Bible, but name Tokariko isn’t clear.