“The Motorway of the Past” The Snee Family of Father and Son - Secretary and Clerk to The Regent’s Canal Company

The Regent’s Canal, eastern entrance to the Thomas H. Shepherd 1823. Waterways Museum

EDMUND LEONARD SNEE, SECRETARY AND ACCOUNTANT TO THE REGENT’S CANAL COMPANY FOR 52 YEARS (The Father)

Edmund Leonard and Mary Snee were the grandparents of two very young children who were buried in Holy Trinity, Cloudesley Square in 1835 and 1837. This is a snapshot into the lives of Edmund and his son Frederick who both worked for the Regent’s Canal Company.

Extract from the website of The London Canal Museum “…..One was Edmund Snee, the Secretary, who was to faithfully serve the company for 52 years,……Snee’s son was also to serve the canal company in an administrative capacity, his employment lasting 45 years.”

A Topographical Dictionary of London and its Environs Regent’s Canal Company Office is at 98, Great Russel Street, Bloomsbury. The business of this company, whose canal reaches from The at , to the Thames at Limehouse, is conducted by a committee of fourteen proprietors, of whom the Earl of Macclesfield is Chairman….and Edmund Leonard Snee, Esquire., Secretary. (1793-1864)

Water Companies 1840 Regents Canal Company Office, City Road Basin Committee etc. etc. Secretary, Edmund L Snee Esq.

John and Elizabeth Snee of Johnson’s Court have two sons baptised on the same day at St Dunstans in the West, City of London Edmund Leonard Snee born on 6 June 1793. baptised on 8 April 1795 Henry born on 26 March 1795, baptised on 8 April 1795

Marriage, St Marys Islington 1817 Edmund Leonard Snee of the Parish of St Andrew, Holborn bachelor and Mary *Cordell spinster of this parish. Married by licence 04/09/1817 *Edmund and his son Frederick (above) both marry wives with the surname Cordell

From 1841 until Edmund Leonard Snee death in 1864 he lived at 15 Colebrook Row, Islington

Edmund Leonard’s wife Mary died in 1845 and was buried 9th July 1954 @ St James, St Pancras, Camden aged only 45 yrs. From a database deceased online we find that three of her children are later buried with her. Emily (now Titterton) 05/02/1889; Mary Snee 26/02/1900 and Charles Frederick Snee 01/9/1910

1841 England Census 1851 England Census Address: Colebrook Row Address: 15 Colebrook Row Edmund Snee (45) Sec. Regent’s Canal Edmund L Snee Head wid (57) Secretary of the Regent’s Canal Co. b. Christchurch Mary Snee (45) Mary dau (30) b. Bloomsbury Edmund Snee (20) Sea Service Elinora C dau(26) b. Bloomsbury Eliza Snee (15) Eliza dau (20) William son (18) Clerk Eleonora Snee (15) Charles (Frederick) son (26) John Snee (14) John A brother (59) Navy Agent Emily Snee (10) Susan Moritt Cook b. Eastwood William Snee (6) Mary Jane Robinson (29) Housemaid b. Bethanl Gr. Charles Snee (6) Ellen Edwards (25) Housemaid b. Islington Sarah Hudson (20) Female Servant

Morning Post 14 May 1861 Regent’s Canal – Notice is hereby given that the Half Yearly General assembly of the Company of Proprietors of the Regent’s Canal (when the usual Election of the Committee &c. will take place) will be holden at the Company’s Office, City Road Basin, on Wednesday, the 5th day of June next. The chair will be taken at one o’clock precisely. Edmund L Snee, Secretary May 13 1861.

Below we see Edmund, now living with his daughters Mary and Eleonora and his brother John A Snee, Navy Agent 1861 England Census Address: 15 Colebrook Row Edmund Leonard Snee Head wid (67) Secretary to the Regent’s Canal b. London Mary dau (40) b. Bloomsbury Eleonora dau (36) b. Bloomsbury John A brother (69) Navy Agent b. Christchurch Mary H Friar (23) Cook b. Fordingbridge Arabella Stevens (17) Housemaid b. Sandy, Beds.

The Morning Post Friday December 4, 1863 Regent’s Canal – Notice is hereby given, that the Half Yearly Dividend, declared at the General Assembly of Proprietors on the 2d December, 1863, will be payable at the Company’s office, City Road basin, on and after Tuesday, the 5th day of January next. Between the hours of ten and four: and that, in order to prepare for The Dividend, the Transfer Books will be closed on the 19th day of December inst., and will remain shut until the 5th January. Edmund Snee, Secretary Dec. 2 1863

Edmund Leonard Snee was still working a year before his death and in fact may never have retired.

Kentish Gazette 01 November 1864 DEATHS – Snee – October 25, at Islington, Mr Edmund Leonard Snee, secretary to the Regent’s Canal Company for upward of 52 years.

England and Wales, National Probate Calendar (Wills and Administration) 1864 Nov 04. The Will with a codicil of Edmund Leonard Snee late of 15 Colbrook Row Islington in the County of Middlesex, Esquire deceased who died 25 October 1864 at Colbrook Row aforesaid was proved at the Principal Registry by the oaths of John Alfonsus Snee of Torrington villas Ramsgate in the county of Kent Esquire the Brother, Henry Charles Vernon of 6 New Inn Strand in the said county of Middlesex Navy Agent the Nephew, and Mary Snee of 15 Colbrook Row aforesaid spinster the Daughter the Executors Effects: £8,000

Source: The Regent’s Canal – London’s Hidden Waterway by Alan Faulkner Pub: 2005 Waterways World Ltd. The Embezzler Early in the life of Regent’s Canal on 28 August 1812 Thomas Homer was appointed Superintendent of the canal on a salary of £400. On the same day Edmund Snee was appointed Minutes clerk at £200. Later there was financial fraud within the company. Thomas Homer, who had devised the Canal, had been appointed the company’s General Manager. In 1815 with unpaid bills stacking up, he came under suspicion and fled the country. He was apprehended the following year and on 15th May Thomas Homer was tried on the company’s charge of embezzlement. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven years transportation to Australia. He wrote the following letter. “The dreadful state in which I have left my most innocent wife and family is distressing to the last degree. They are as much without blemish as anyone upon the face of the Globe. I hope they will not be looked upon a jot the worse for my mistakes. Thomas Homer”. Edmund Leonard and Frederick Snee’s Careers As a result Edmund Snee, the Minutes clerk, had taken on additional responsibilities and in April 1815 he took charge of the office when it was decided not to appoint a successor to Homer. Edmund Snee received regular gratuities for his diligence over the company’s affairs, such as £100 in June 1817. In July 1820 he was appointed the company’s Accountant while remaining as Minutes clerk and his salary was increased to £250. His son Frederick joined the company as a Junior Clerk in October 1817. Edmund Snee died on 25 October after an unrivalled 52 years of service and the company awarded a £120 annuity to his two unmarried sisters.

FREDERICK SNEE, CLERK, REGENT’S CANAL OFFICE FOR 45 YEARS (The son)

The information that follows turned up as part of a project to discover interesting stories of families with a link to Holy Trinity, Cloudesley Square burials, and I noted two very young children whose parents were Frederick and Elizabeth Snee. Both parents were born about 1801. They lived in 26 Cloudesley Square in 1841. The buried children were:- Eleonora Emily Snee bur. 27/11/1835 aged 2 yrs Abode: 26 Cloudesley Sq Caroline Emily Snee bur. 19/04/1837 aged 1 year, Abode: 26 Cloudesley Sq

Their father Frederick Snee was a Clerk who served the Regent’s Canal Company for 45 years.

Eleonora and Caroline’s parents were Frederick Snee and Elizabeth Cordell who were married at St George, Bloomsbury on 1st January 1827. Frederick was a bachelor of St Andrew Holborn, and Elizabeth was a spinster of Bloomsbury. While they were living at No 26 Cloudesley Square the following 5 children were born.:- Eleanora Emily Snee bap 08/09/1832 @ Holy Trinity, Islington Frederick Snee bap 19/08/1834 @ Holy Trinity, Islington John Edmund Snee bap 12/03/1838 @ Holy Trinity, Islington Emily Caroline Snee. I cannot find her birth or baptism, but from her burial above she was their child. George Henry Snee bap 15/12/1839 @ Holy Trinity, Islington

Frederick Snee joined his father Edmund at the Regent’s Canal Company, as a Junior Clerk in October 1817.

The Census records show that the Snee Family moved from 26 Cloudesley Square after 1841 to No 3 Pullin’s Row, St Peters, and then next door to No 2 which was close to Frederick’s widowed father Edmund Leonard Snee and where they remained until Frederick was at least 63 yrs. His occupation is stated as (1) Clerk in a Public Office and then (2) Clerk, Regents Canal Office. Additionally the Snees employed 2 Servants which suggests that Frederick provided well for his family.

England Census 1841 England 1851 Census Address: 26 Cloudesley Square Address: 3 Pullins Row, St Peters, Islington Frederick Snee (40) Clerk Frederick Snee Head (53) Clerk in a Public Office b. London Elizabeth Snee wife (40) Elizabeth Snee wife (53) b. London Elizabeth Snee dau (10) Elizabeth M(ary) Snee dau (20) b. Islington Frederick Snee son (6) Frederick Snee son (16) Solicitors Clerk b. Islington John Snee son (3) George H(enry) Snee son (11 b. Islington George (Henry) Snee son (1) Mary Barham (22) Gen Servant b. Cranfield Sarah Newton (22) servant Sarah Fleming (22) House servant b. Islington Elizabeth Osborne (16) servant

Pullin’s Row Colebrook Row Regents Canal Canal Screen shot taken from the 1830 G & J Greenwood Map as shown on the Cloudesley Association Website

England 1861 Census Address: 2 Pullins Row, St Peters, Islington Frederick Snee Head (63) Clerk, Regents Canal Office b. St Brides, Middx Elizabeth Wife (63) b. Houndsditch Elizabeth M(ary) Snee dau (30) U b. Islington Emily Ivory (20) Boarder b. Wanstead Essex Mary A Ivory (17) Boarder b. Edmonton Middx Harriet Marjorem (26) Cook b. Essex Elizabeth Lamprell (24) House Servant b. Essex

In July 1862 Frederick Snee retired from the Regent’s Canal Company on health grounds after 45 years of service.

Pullins Row From a collection of Drawings of the Islington Area by Augustus Charles Pugin. Pub. 1819 Source: With permission of the Archive London Canal Museum

Source: Streets with a Story PULLENS PLACE (1836) By 1878 nos. 80 to 82 High Street. PULLENS ROW (1801-2) By 1878 nos. 84 to 98 Islington High Street. Also spelt PULLINS PLACE or PULLINS ROW. This was opposite to the present 'The Mall' (former LCC tramway power station, see under The Galleries under Islington High Street) on the east side of the High Street opposite Duncan Street. Named after the family of Pullin. Samuel Pullin was in 1754 and earlier, one of the Overseers of the Poor. Near Pullins Row c. 1841 -2 was an extensive grass farm for cows and a dairy farm then run by a Mr. Chapman who in 1839 purchased it from Mr. Rhodes, but for many years carried on by the Pullin family. Samuel Pullin kept from three to four hundred cows. At no. 7 Pullins Row lived the Rev. John Evans LLD, MA (1767-1827) who had a seminary at Islington and was also a voluminous and once well-known theological writer.

Source: British history on-line ……A little to the south Pullins Row was built in the late 18th century on a field belonging to Pullin's dairy farm fronting High Street. In the southern part of the district, Duncan Terrace was extended in the 1830s, probably in two stages, nos. 11-21 and 22-32, reaching Duncan Street by 1839. Duncan Street was laid from Pullins Row in the High Street to the New River c. 1834, when the Catholic Apostolic church was built on the north side, and by 1839 the South Islington Proprietary School stood at the street's north-east corner

The Evening Standard Thursday February 18 1864 (Extract and summary) In Chancery – “An Act to facilitate the Leases and Sale of Settled Estates” This concerns the results of the will of William Cordell Esq. who died on 5th March 1824. I presume he was the father of Elizabeth Cordell or Snee the wife of Frederick. Those named are Frederick Snee the elder, Elizabeth Snee, his wife, Edmund Snee of Colebrook Row, Elizabeth Mary Snee, Frederick, the younger and George Henry and concerns a request that part of some property/land is sold. I presume this is to release cash to the family, while they continue to benefit from income by rents and dividends.

After Frederick’s retirement in 1862 the Snee family leaves Islington and moves to 1 Dingwall Villa, Croydon and Elizabeth dies there in early 1868 aged 70 yrs. The 1971 Census shows Frederick, now a widower living with his eldest daughter with a Nurse and a General servant. Note that Frederick and Elizabeth Mary’s income is derived from Annuity, dividends, rents and funded property.

1871 England Census Address: 1 Dingwall Villa, Croydon Frederick Snee Head widower (75) Occ. Retired Clerk Annuity Dividends b. St Dunstans Elizabeth M Snee dau Unmarried (40) Occ. Rents and funded property b. Islington Rebecca Seddon wid. (37) Nurse b. Suffolk Margaret Davis (26) General servant b. Brecknockshire

Frederick’s death is registered in Croydon in 1875. At his death he was 77 years old. See his Probate below

England and Wales National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administration) 20 August 1875 The will with two Codicils of Frederick Snee late of 1 Dingwall villas Croydon in the County of Surrey Esquire who died 2 July 1875 at 1 Dingwall villas was proved by Frederick Singleton Knott of Heath villas Maple Road Penge in the said County Esquire, Elizabeth Mary Snee of 1 Dingwall villas spinster the Daughter, and Frederick Snee of 56 Islip Street Kentish Town in the County of Middlesex Commercial Traveller, and George Henry Snee of 69 Croydon Grove Croydon Stockbroker’s Clerk the sons the Executors. Effects: £14,000

Post Script After their father’s death Frederick and Elizabeth Snee’s children, Frederick, now a widower (66), Elizabeth Mary (70), George Henry (61) and his wife Margaret (54), are all “Living on their own means” as recorded in the 1901 Census at 5 Fanlight Stables, Bradenburgh Rd., Chiswick. They have 2 servants.

It appears that through the work and dedication to The Regent’s Canal Company of their forebears, and income derived from their Grandfather, William Cordell, the Islington born Snees were set to live out their days in some comfort.

THE HANGING GARDENS OF ISLINGTON

Source (1): The British Museum Collection Walter Sickert lived and maintained a studio at 56 Noel Street (now Noel Road) between 1924 and 1931. Yards at the rear of a London Terrace (Noel Street, Islington) seen from the Regent's Canal with a woman hanging out washing and another figure, standing in profile to left, near the fence; c.1925 (published 1929) Etching.

Source (2): Islington – A History and Guide by Pieter Zwart 1964 – Extract summary. “The backs of Noel Road and Vincent Terrace overlooked the Regent’s Canal. Walter Sickert drew the inspiration for his engraving “The Hanging Gardens of Islington” from the canal bank. Duncan Terrace named after the admiral who distinguished himself at Cape St Vincent, formerly overlooked the New River flowing towards Clerkenwell. So did the opposite terrace, Colebrook Row, most probably named after James Colebrook, the largest landowner in the parish of St Mary at the time.”