Details

Name

Walter Sneyd

Brief Biography

1809 - 1888 English / British

Occupation

Minister; Caricaturist; Antiquarian; Bibliophile

Description

Son of Lieutenant-Colonel Walter Sneyd (1752–1829) of Keele Hall, and the Hon. Louisa Bagot. His father served in parliament as High Sherriff of Staffordshire.

Walter Jnr studied at Christ Church, Oxford, and it was during his time as a student there that he wrote his satirical work, 'Portraits of the Spruggins Family, Arranged by Richard Sucklethumkin Spruggins, Esq'. Full of amusing caricatures and dedicated to the 'aristocracy of Great Britain', the first edition, published in 1829, was privately printed and intended for the amusement of Sneyd’s friends and family.

Leaving Oxford in 1834, Sneyd was then ordained and remained as curate of Begbroke near Woodstock for thirty years. During his lifetime he amassed a significant collection of ancient books and medieval manuscripts.