Samuel Sneyd was the son of Baptists Samuel Sneyd, a grocer, and Elizabeth Margret Oliver. He was born in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England on 15 March 1811. His sister Mary was born in 1814, and brother James in 1818.

In 1832, at the age of 22, he came to Australia with the 4th Battalion of the King’s Own Regiment. In the early days, he was selected along with other hand-picked men from the regiment to suppress bushranging in the colony.

On 13 February 1837, he married Catherine ‘Kitty’ Mulcahy, originally from Black Rock near Cork, Ireland, at Wollongong Church, NSW. Catherine came to Australia on the ship James Pattison. They went on to have nine children: William Hartley (b. 30 Sep 1837, d. 11 Sep 1902); James Goulburn (b. 6 Jun 1839, d. 6 Dec 1925); John Braidwood (b. ca.1840, d. 15 Aug 1908); Ellen Mary (b. 1844, d. 21 Oct 1893); Joseph Samuel (b. 1846, d. 18 Jul 1905); Emma Martha (b. 20 Nov 1848, d. 22 Jun 1922); Samuel Hanley Stafford (b. 1849, d. 31 July 1901); Elizabeth Margaret (b. 18 Mar 1853, d. 11 August 1908); and Arthur Oliver (b. 12 Oct 1855, d. 6 Sep 1896).

In 1838, Sneyd joined the Mounted Police where he rose to the position of sergeant-major of the Goulburn Division. Sneyd worked with the police in New South Wales, having been stationed in Wollongong, Bowen’s Hollow, and Goulburn among other places. In 1850, he was appointed to Chief Constable of the Brisbane police as a replacement for William Fitzpatrick. At the time of his appointment, he was in Sydney while his family remained in Goulburn. Hence, he had to petition the Colonial Secretary for additional time to move his family to Brisbane, which was approved.

As evidenced by rising prosecutions for breach of conduct in the police, Chief Constable Sneyd was viewed as a meticulous man fond of rules and regulations and was well respected for his integrity and the execution of his duties.

On 25 July 1858, aged 46, Kitty died of an epileptic seizure. Sneyd then married Margaret Hyland and had six more children, five of whom grew to adulthood.

In 1859, injuries obtained during Sneyd’s service in the bush prevented him from maintaining his high standard of work and led to his resignation as Chief Constable. As an expression of gratitude for his service, he was presented with a gold watch and Albert chain and key by the Brisbane police force. The watch was a Hunter Lever and bore the following inscription on the inside of the case: “Presented to Mr. S. Sneyd, Chief Constanble of the Brisbane police force, by the men serving under him, as a token of respect upon his retiring from the service Dec. 15, 1859 [sic]”.

Following a vacancy at Her Majesty’s Gaol Brisbane, Sneyd was appointed to the governorship shortly after his resignation as Chief Constable in 1859.

On 4 July 1885, aged 75, Sneyd died of a heart disease at his residence in Enoggera, Brisbane.

Citation

Anastasia Dukova and Constance Schoelch, ‘Samuel Sneyd (1811 – 1885)’, Harry Gentle Resource Centre, Griffith University, 2018 (updated 2023), https://harrygentle.griffith.edu.au/life-stories/samuel-sneyd/.