SNOW, Richard John
(Service number 47090)
| First Rank | Rifleman | Last Rank | Rifleman |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 25 October 1896 | Place of Birth | Outram |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 25 January 1917 | Age | 20 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Waimate | ||
| Occupation | Railway Cadet (NZ Govt) | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Mr William SNOW (father), Outram, Otago | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Rifle Brigade | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 25th Reinforcements, J Company | ||
| Date | 26 April 1917 | ||
| Transport | Tofua | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Plymouth, Devon, England | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | |||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Western European | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | British War Medal; Victory Medal | ||
Death
| Date | 31 March 1935 | Age | 36 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Temuka | ||
| Cause | Acute Pneumothorax Pulmonary Tuberculosis: Gunshot wound of chest (war): Gassing effect | ||
| Memorial or Cemetery | East Taieri Cemetery | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Richard John Snow was born on 25 October 1896 at Outram, the eldest son of William Charles and Annie (née James) Snow. William and Annie who had married at Green Island in 1893, had four sons and six daughters. Richard was called up in 1916. He was a railway cadet at Waimate when he enlisted on 25 January 1917 at Timaru. Single and Presbyterian, he named his father as next-of-kin – Mr William Snow, Outram, Otago. R. J. Snow was one of the men who left Waimate by the first express, en route for Trentham, on 13 February 1917. Rifleman R. J. Snow embarked with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade of the 25th Reinforcements, departing for Plymouth, England on 26 April 1917 per the “Tofua”. R. J. Snow was discharged on 27 September 1918, no longer physically fit for War Service on account of wounds received in action.
Richard John Snow returned his employment with the railways. He married Margaret Hall Hanlin in 1923. They had at least two children – Richard Maxwell Snow, well known as Max, the owner of Morven Hills Station, Tarras, and Rachel Margaret (known as Margaret) who lived into her nineties (Gallagher). Max and Margs started at Temuka School, where their father was stationmaster, transferring to Mosgiel after their father’s death. Richard John Snow died suddenly on 31 March 1935 at his Temuka residence, aged 38 years. His death was the result of acute pneumothorax pulmonary tuberculosis, caused by the gassing effect of the gunshot wound to his chest in the war. After a service at the house where members of the Temuka Returned Soldiers’ Association were the bearers, his body taken by train to Mosgiel, where he was buried in the East Taieri Cemetery. A services stone marks his grave. Margaret died in 1985 and was buried alongside.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [15 December 2024]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [15 December 2024]; East Taieri Cemetery headstone image & burial record (Dunedin City Council) [16 December 2024]; Waimate Daily Advertiser, 12 February 1917, Otago Daily Times, 1 April 1935, Timaru Herald, 1 April 1935 [x 2], Press, 1 & 2 April 1935 (Papers Past) [04 March 2021; 16 December 2024]
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society
Currently Assigned to
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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