Christensen family of New Zealand

Anton Emmanuel 'Snowy' Christensen

Although his birth was registered as '"Arnt Emmanuel", 'Snowy' Christensen (as he was known) also appears as "Emmanuel Anton". He was born at Stoney Creek, on 23 June 1878. 

Snowy was aged six when his mother, Marie, had died in 1885. Due to this, and to relieve pressure of his father, Snowy was fostered by Bernt and Elisabet Johansen, who had travelled to New Zealand on the Celaeno in 1870-1 with the Christensens. The Johansens were from the same part of Norway as the Christensens and had married at the same church. Bernt was a wood and coal merchant in Palmerston North by this time. As a result, Snowy grew up with the Johansen family.

In about 1915, Snowy married Clara Conlan, known as 'Dot', the daughter of John Francis Xavier Conlan and his wife Cornelia. The Conlans and their seven children had arrived in the Oroua Downs district in Manawatu in late 1902, having left the Kumara goldfields in 1890, and then having spent about ten years living in Forest Hill Road, Aokautere. This is more or less on the opposite side of the Manawatu River to Stoney Creek, where Snowy had been born. At Oroua Downs, the Conlan family had owned a large property (940 acres) which they operated as a dairy farm and later ran sheep.

Snowy and Dot produced ten children, including a set of twins. These are/were: Charles Anton ['Charlie'] (c1916-5/11/1989), Mona [Beard], Alma [Legg], Dulcie, Lorna [Wilson], Joyce [Anstis], Bill, Laurence, James [twin] and Alfred [twin].

B.S. Pedersen's book Oroua Downs: a district history, provides snippets from Snowy's life. It says that he played the 'gum leaf' in a local band that consisted of Ted Conlan (piano), father-in-law J.F.X. Conlan (violin), Bill Conlan (cornet), Mr Hartley (clarinet) and Mr Curtz (euphonium). Much of the band's music was composed by J.F.X. Conlan, and one of his most favourite numbers was the 'Forest Hills Waltz', which was played at the district's 75th Jubilee.

These social occasions had been held at the original Oroua Downs School (burnt 1936), while others had been held in the goods shed at the Himatangi Railway Station. It had been at one of these functions that he had first met his future wife.

Members of the Christensen family found they had a sensitivity toward 'water divining' and Snowie, with his son Charlie, assisted with the tar sealing of the main road between Foxton and Himatangi (State Highway One), by sinking bores to gain a water supply. The Oroua Downs School burnt down in 1936, and when the new one was opened the following year, Snowy had divined the water at the site and then dug the new well.

Snowy died on 2 May 1949 at Oroua Downs, aged 70. He is buried at Foxton Cemetery.