Page 22 - CYAA Magazine Jan 2018 Issue 41

Classic Yacht Association of Australia

At the time Colin and I were chasing our own
Just How Many Boats Did My Great-
morsels of pavlova. We were trying to piece
Great-Great Grandfather Build? A together the history of his little motor boat Adela.

Journey Built in the backyard of a house in North Hobart,
Tasmania, in the mid-1920s, the 26-ft Huon pine
Nicole Mays vessel, archetype of racing launches of the 1920s,

A few years ago, a good friend, Colin Grazules, was built by James Andrewartha, his son Ronald,
sent me a link to an article published in Good and James’s good friend Charles Snook. While
Food titled “Pavlova Research Reveals Dessert's much information was known about Adela’s
Shock Origins.” builder and original owner James Andrewartha,
Though claimed by Australians as our national little was known of her assistant builder Charles
dessert, the pavlova is commonly thought to have Snook. Online genealogical records,
originated from New Zealand. However, the supplemented with newspaper and archival
article’s author invested up to 18 hours a day in records, produced some astounding results. The
research, sifting through 20,000 newspapers and process was also aided by family connections
10,000 cookbooks, to conclude that the pavlova made via social media networks.
was in fact of German and then American origin.
A somewhat shocking find. Born at Battery Point near Hobart in 1875 Charles
Snook undertook a
woodworking apprenticeship
and later served in the Boer
War. He returned to Tasmania
in 1905 and settled back into the
Hobart community with great
drive and energy. He was
active in local organisations
and community groups,
including the Boy Scout
Association, the South African
Returned Soldiers’ Association,
the Masonic Lodge, the White
Cross League, the Hobart
Citizen’s Band, the Hobart
Meccano Club, and the
Rhodesian Society. On a
professional level Charles
Snook found work as a
carpenter and joiner. By 1921 he
was supervisor at the Battery
Point Trade School, located on
Sandy Bay Road across from
Hampden Road. It was here
that Charles Snook spent 25
years teaching woodworking
and technical drawing, among
other subjects, to pupils from
John Lucas and Nicole Mays book launch in December 2017.Courtesy of Jenny Keyes. local primary schools.

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