William Wallace Snodgrass (1870 – 20 March 1939) was an English-born politician from

Nelson, New Zealand (Let him, who has earned it, bear the palm) , image_map = Nelson CC.PNG , mapsize = 200px , map_caption = , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = ...

. He was

Mayor of Nelson The mayor of Nelson is the head of the municipal government of Nelson, New Zealand, and presides over the Nelson City Council. The mayor is directly elected using a single transferable vote electoral system. The current mayor is Nick Smith, wh ...

and later a member of the Legislative Council.

Early life and family

Snodgrass was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, England, the son of Robert Snodgrass. His early education was at Liverpool Methodist School. When he was 10 his family migrated to Nelson, New Zealand. On 27 January 1896 Snodgrass married Annie Frankham, the daughter of Walter Frankham, and they had five children — two sons and three daughters — including Wallace Frankham Snodgrass who played three matches for the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

Business

Snodgrass was a member of his father's merchant firm of R. Snodgrass and Sons established in 1880 in Nelson.Prominent Citizen, Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 21 March 1939, Page 4 On his Snodgrass's death in 1939 the business was wound up and the premises sold by the official assignee.

Political career

Snodgrass was a City Councillor for three years and elected Mayor from 1917 to 1921.

William Lock William Lock (1 May 1858 – 20 July 1940) was Mayor of Nelson, New Zealand, from 1913 to 1915 and again from 1921 to 1927. Lock was an auctioneer, and a grain and produce merchant for 40 years. During his term as mayor, HMS ''New Zealand'' ...

and he contested the Mayoralty for a number of elections with Lock winning in 1921. He had also been a member of the Nelson Harbour Board from 1914 to 1929. Snodgrass was appointed to the Legislative Council on 2 September 1921. At the end of his terms, he was reappointed in September 1928 and in September 1935. He remained a member until his disappearance in 1939.

Community service

Snodgrass was President of the Nelson Chamber of Commerce from 1913 to 1914. He was also a member of the Nelson Harbour Board, Patriotic Society, and War Funds Council. In 1918 he was awarded the MBE for his patriotic work during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was involved with the establishment of the Nelson Sick and Wounded Soldiers Fund becoming its chair until his death, was noted for meeting all the returning soldiers to Nelson from World War One, made a life member of the Nelson Returned Soldiers' Association, and Chair of the Repatriation Board from 1919 to 1924. He was also a member of the War Funds Council. In addition Snodgrass was a member of the Nelson Hospital Board, Nelson Chamber of Commerce, and Nelson Provincial Progress League. From 1908 he had been a Trustee of St Andrews Orphanage and from 1910 a Director of the Nelson Permanent Building Society. In 1935, he was awarded the

King George V Silver Jubilee Medal The King George V Silver Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession of King George V. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir by King George V to commemorate his Silver J ...

Disappearance

Snodgrass was a passenger on the '' Arahura'' sailing from

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

to Nelson on 20 March 1939 and disappeared during the voyage. The account of the voyage stated that Snodgrass had supper with the master, Captain Hay, and retired to his cabin fairly early. When the other occupant of the cabin, Walter S. Dillon, went to bed Snodgrass was in his bunk reading, and they later said goodnight. In the morning Snodgrass was missing. His clothes and effects were in the cabin. At the time Snodgrass went missing he was believed to in financial difficulties. When his estate was wound up in 1940 it was in bankruptcy with only enough money to cover 75% of the outstanding debts. Three years later his daughter, Florence, also died at sea. She was married to Colonel C. S. J. Duff, Commander of the New Zealand Artillery and had been serving in the

WAAF WAAF may refer to: * w3af, (short for web application attack and audit framework), an open-source web application security scanner * Women's Auxiliary Air Force, a British military service in World War II ** Waaf, a member of the service * WAAF (AM ...

in England. She lost her life when SS ''Port Hunter'' was torpedoed and sunk by U-582 in the Atlantic north-west of the Canary Islands on 11 July 1942.

In popular culture

A play titled ''Snodgrass - Nelson's Missing Mayor'' was written and produced by Nelson-based playwright Miranda Warner. It focuses on Snodgrass's disappearance. After the actors set the scene the audience is encouraged to suggest what happened to him. Based on audience consensus the actors continue the play, giving potentially different endings to each performance.Audience to play detectives in 80-year mystery of missing Nelson mayor
Cherie Sivignon, 05:00pm Nov 29 2019, Stuff.co.nz, retrieved 25 April 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snodgrass, William 1870 births 1930s missing person cases 1939 deaths English emigrants to New Zealand Mayors of Nelson, New Zealand Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council Missing person cases in New Zealand New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire People lost at sea Politicians from Liverpool