Alfred John Snelling

  General Notes:

Migrated from Devon to Dubbo, NSW with his parents and after completing school moved to Sydney to teach at Sydney Technical College. In 1902 married May Rush and lived in Petersham before buying a new house ,'Rushlyn', in 1910 at 18 Yasmar Ave in the new Garden suburb of Haberfield, where they lived for the rest of their lives. This was a new Federation style 3 bedroom residence with an open back verandah and garage (although he never owned a car). There was a large back garden with plum, apple and persimmon trees, and with rose gardens around the house in which he took great pride. A quiet unassuming man he joined his brother Reg at the Snelling Printing Works in Bay St, Sydney and worked there as Head Compositor until he retired. He belonged to Lodge Haberfield, and during WW2 was a volunteer Air Raid Warden. He smoked a pipe and was an avid reader. His wife May was talented at craft, painting, pottery, crochet, embroidery etc and her work was scattered throughout the house. In her later years her mobility was severely reduced by rheumatoid arthritis. They had two children, Harold and Sylvia. Harold, born in 1904,went to Fort St Boys High, studied law at Sydney University, was subsequently admitted to the bar in 1933 and later became a QC. In 1953 he was appointed Solicitor General of NSW. In 1932 he married Ruth Neilley and they lived at Wentworth Ave Vaucluse and subsequently at 32 The Crescent Vaucluse with their three daughters. He also owned a holiday home "Dawlish' in Sublime Pt Rd Leura which was the site of many family outings and a Snelling Clan Reunion in 1953. Sylvia was born in 1909 and went to Fort St Girls High and then worked at the Commonwealth Bank before marrying John Easton in 1936 and moving to 17 Tillock St Haberfield in what was to be their lifetime home.

Alfred married May Martha Rush, daughter of John Thomas Rush and Martha Anne Warby, on 8 Jan 1902 in St Matthias, Paddington, Sydney, NSW Australia. (May Martha Rush was born on 19 May 1877 in Paddington, Sydney, NSW Australia, died in Jun 1956 in Haberfield, Sydney, NSW Australia and was buried in Rookwood Cemetery, Lidcombe, Sydney, NSW Australia.)