Martin and William Snape, Gosport's Celebrated Artists

Martin Snape (1852-1930) and his younger brother William (1862-1904) were born in a Gosport almost unrecognisable from the town we know today.

The great majority of the population lived within the ramparts - a series of defensive fortifications begun in the 17th century and surrounding what we would today call Gosport town centre. The town was then a dense network of lanes, alleyways and boatyards - considerably more crowded than today and far less sanitary. To the north of the town, and also within the ramparts, were the Royal Clarence Victualling Yard and Priddy’s Hard. These institutions were each of huge importance to the navy, storing and supplying much of the victuals, gunpowder and armaments to the fleet at Portsmouth. In addition Gosport was a garrison town and various Army and Royal Marine regiments would occasionally spend time in the town at either St George Barracks (originally New Barracks) or Forton Barracks. If space was tight in the town they would camp on the vast space at Browndown.

The only known likeness of Martin Snape

It was in this very busy seaport that Martin and William Snape were born at Spring Garden Cottage, just outside of the ramparts and a stone’s throw from the new Gosport railway station that had opened in 1841. Their father, Alfred, was an artist and teacher of drawing at Burney’s Academy - a school for aspiring naval & military officers located within the town that both Martin and William would attend. However, the school probably didn’t suit either brothers’ artistic temperaments and Alfred later deemed the fees a waste of money. Alfred and his wife Sarah appear to have lived fairly comfortably, possibly through inheritance, as Spring Garden Cottage is a reasonably substantial double bay-fronted cottage. They kept one domestic servant and supported six children, all of whom lived at home well into adulthood.

Martin became an erudite man, largely through his own studies, and would often take the train to Winchester where he would spend hours in the records department gleaning as much knowledge as he could on Britain’s history, topography and ancient buildings, particularly those of his native Hampshire. Edward Prideaux-Brune, the rector of Rowner Church from 1884-1919, had similar interests and the two formed a lifelong friendship and exchanged hundreds of letters. Thankfully, many of Martin’s letters to the Reverend still exist in public and private collections and they contain informed discussions on the derivation of local place names, the beauty of oak woods at Rowner, as well as remarks on folklore, natural history, politics of the day and the ever changing landscape of Gosport and Portsmouth Harbour.

Martin’s earlier paintings were almost exclusively studies of nature, inspired by his burgeoning interest in the countryside and his close association with the rural parish of Rowner and its rector. Superbly executed and very detailed, some were accepted by the Royal Academy for their prestigious exhibitions. Two such exhibits were “The Gamekeeper’s Museum” of 1883 and “The Ferret Hutch” of 1894. During this period Martin earned an income by giving art lessons, both privately and at various schools around the town.

Martin's younger brother William married Kate in 1887 and they are recorded in the 1891 census as living at 6 Camden Street, Gosport, with two young children, although William continued to paint in the studio at the family home at Spring Garden Cottage. An impressive painter, his best works are fine cottage interiors, which compare favourably with the best of Victorian genre painting. He also painted atmospheric landscapes in and around Gosport and, like Martin, was drawn to the ancient parish of Rowner and the surrounding oak woodlands and heathlands. The rural nature of this part of Gosport can only be imagined today. Some of the countryfolk in his landscapes and cottage interiors reappear, suggesting William had developed bonds and friendships with the inhabitants. William also supplemented his income, always uncertain for artists then as now, with illustration work for periodicals such as "The Girls Own Paper". His career was blossoming when his life was tragically cut short by an overdose of Chlorodyne when he was just 42 in 1904. This widely available medicine contained laudanum (an alcoholic solution of opium) as well as cannabis and chloroform. It was extremely addictive and commonly used at the time for pain relief and as a remedy for stomach complaints and insomnia. Unfortunately death by overdose, whether accidental or not, was a common occurrence at the time.

A self-portrait by William with his daughter Katie in the studio at Spring Garden Cottage, painted about 1900

William’s death coincided with a change in direction for Martin who, with sole use of the studio at Spring Garden Cottage, increased his output considerably and developed a looser and more atmospheric style of painting. He achieved some fame in the town during the first two decades of the 20th century and many middle-class houses at the time would have possessed a Snape of Portsmouth Harbour which he painted from all angles, in all seasons and at all times of day. Often such views would incorporate many of the old buildings along the Gosport waterside, so familiar to residents at the time, such as Camper and Nicholson's boatyard, Ratsey's sail loft or the fading Georgian grandeur of Clarence Square. The ever-present HMS Victory and HMS St Vincent could invariably be seen floating in the middle distance.

Martin's friend Frederick Davison, who also drew the only known likeness of the artist, observed: "Martin Snape's recording of the ever changing scene in and around Portsmouth Harbour from sunrise to sunset, at low water and high water, the stench of the mud and vibrating greens, those rusty hulks against a background of yachts and the might of the navy, has never been so vividly portrayed by any other artist of the time".

Martin also travelled outside of the town, particularly to the Hampshire countryside around the villages along the Meon Valley Railway, and he occasionally undertook painting trips to Wales, Scotland and the Alps. He would accept commissions and recorded many of the larger houses in and around Gosport.

He married Lydia, the widow of a naval officer, in his 47th year and they continued to live at Spring Garden Cottage together with his elderly widowed father (who died in 1911) and sister Alice. The 1920s were somewhat leaner years for Martin and he supplemented his income with some teaching. A letter written in this period by one of his students recalls him as “...a quiet, kind, inward-thinking man who dressed badly and needed a shave most times”.

Gosport will be ever thankful to Martin and William Snape for providing us with an indelible record of the town and its surroundings during this fascinating and transitional period of time as the age of sail and horse slowly gave way to the twentieth century.