Martha Rouse Snowden (nee Gardiner) was my great grandmother. This photo shows her almost smiling, not like the photo that hung over the fireplace in Granny and Pa Snowden’s house in Subiaco. I was frightened of the woman in that photo and was always on my best behaviour when in that room. She and Christopher Snowden senior arrived in Australia in 1857, making us fourth generation Australians. Pa, the youngest of their five children, was born in Victoria in August 1875, after the sudden death of his father. Having to raise those children on her own would have been difficult. No wonder she grew to look stern and cross.
Pa, the younger Christopher Snowden, was something of a rebel in the family. On leaving school he was articled to an architect, but instead of finishing his training, he moved to Western Australia and worked for much of his life in clerical positions on the railways.
He was a pacifist, refusing to fight in the first world war. Consequently, he got the ‘white feather’ treatment which affected him badly and led to excessive drinking. However, by the time I was born, this was no longer a problem. He was a very loving, caring father and grandfather.