The Reverend Canon Robin Roy Snyman was a priest in the

Anglican Church of Southern Africa The Anglican Church of Southern Africa, known until 2006 as the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, is the province (Anglican), province of the Anglican Communion in the southern part of Africa. The church has twenty-five dioceses, of whi ...

, who served as Dean of

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

and rector of St Cyprian’s Cathedral, and afterwards was Vice-Provost at the Cathedral Church of St Mary the Virgin, Port Elizabeth. He was born at

Waterval Boven Waterval Boven (officially known as Emgwenya) is a small town situated on the edge of the Escarpment on the banks of the Elands River above the 75m Elands Falls on the railway line from Pretoria to Maputo in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Hence the ...

, in what is now

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...

in 1934. He died in Port Elizabeth on 15 September 2020.

Early career

Snyman was educated at Pretoria Boys' High School, going on to obtain a Licentiate in Theology through the

Church of the Province of Southern Africa The Anglican Church of Southern Africa, known until 2006 as the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, is the province of the Anglican Communion in the southern part of Africa. The church has twenty-five dioceses, of which twenty-one are loc ...

. His first posting, in 1957, was as an assistant curate at St Saviour's Anglican Church in

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, going on to serve in a similar capacity at

Grahamstown Cathedral The Cathedral of St Michael and St George is the home of the Anglican Diocese of Grahamstown in Makhanda in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the episcopal seat of the Bishop of Grahamstown. The cathedral is located on Church ...

in 1960. He then served at St Leonard's, Heston, in London from 1964. Returning to South Africa, Snyman was instituted in 1966 as rector of the Good Shepherd Parish in East London. He was appointed as chaplain at

Rhodes University Rhodes University () is a public research university located in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, Rhodes University is the prov ...

, Grahamstown, in 1968. Who’s who of Southern Africa (24.com)
/ref>

Germiston

Snyman was appointed to the post of rector and regional dean at

St Boniface Church Germiston St Boniface Church is the mother church of the Anglican parish of Germiston, Gauteng which also includes the chapelries of St Mary and St John in Lambton, and St Mark in Rosedeep. The parish is part of the Diocese of the Highveld, which is i ...

, in the then

Transvaal Province The Province of Transvaal (), commonly referred to as the Transvaal (; ), was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of apartheid. The name "Transvaal" refers to the province's ...

, in 1971. He served as Mayor’s Chaplain there in 1976. In February 1978 Snyman made controversial remarks concerning Bishop Tutu just prior to his taking up his position as General Secretary of the

South African Council of Churches The South African Council of Churches (SACC) is an interdenominational forum in South Africa. It was a prominent anti-apartheid organisation during the years of apartheid in South Africa. Its leaders have included Desmond Tutu, Beyers Naudé ...

. It has been said that Snyman’s "description of the kind of person the Church needs" in fact described Bishop Tutu "through and through."

Dean of Kimberley

In 1978 Snyman was invited to be Dean of Kimberley as successor to Thomas Stanage and was installed as Dean and Rector of the Cathedral on 9 June 1978. He was to serve St Cyprian’s Cathedral until the early 1990s. During this time he was appointed Vicar General (1979 and other occasions when the Bishop was out of the Diocese). He served under Bishops Graham Chadwick and

George Alfred Swartz George Alfred Swartz (8 September 1928 - 1 January 2006) was a South African Anglican bishop. He was the ninth Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman. Education Swartz was educated at the University of the Witwatersrand and Pembroke College, Cambridge. ...

. He was also Priest in Charge to the small parish of St Hubert's Hartswater, and served as a chaplain to the

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence Fo ...

, at a time when sizable groups of conscripted soldiers would attend services at the Cathedral weekly . One of them was moved to refuse to carry arms after a service at St Cyprian's in the later 1980s (as revealed in a sermon at the cathedral in August 2009). Snyman was warden to the sisters of the

Community of St Michael and All Angels The Community of St Michael and All Angels was an Anglican religious order of nuns in South Africa. The Community was founded by Allan Webb, the second Bishop of Bloemfontein in 1874 – although the idea was first mooted by Webb's predecessor, E ...

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...

(the Community had strong historical ties with Kimberley, through, inter alia, Sister Henrietta Stockdale), from 1986. Snyman was Archdeacon of Kimberley from 1988.

Port Elizabeth

Upon his retirement from his post as Dean of Kimberley in 1991, Snyman went to

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

as Vice-Provost and Rector at the Collegiate Church of St Mary the Virgin. In 1996 he was appointed chaplain to the Prince Alfred's Guard Regiment, Port Elizabeth. He retired end of January 2001.

Third Order of the Society of St Francis

Fr Roy Snyman has for long been a member of the

Third Order of the Society of St Francis Emerging since the 19th century, there are several Protestant adherent and groups, sometimes organised as religious orders, which strive to adhere to the teachings and spiritual disciplines of Saint Francis of Assisi. The 20th century High C ...

and served as guardian to its Africa South Region from 1995. He is also an associate chaplain of the

Venerable Order of St John The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (), commonly known as the Order of St John, and also known as St John International, is an order of chivalry constituted in 1888 by royal charter from Queen Victoria and dedica ...

Golden Jubilee

On 7 December 2008 the

golden jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali language, ...

of the ordained ministry of Fr Roy Snyman was celebrated in a service in the Cathedral in Port Elizabeth. A lone bagpiper piped the people into the service. The Port Elizabeth Oratorio Choir joined the Cathedral choir to ensure music befitting the occasion.Indaba: Account of the Golden Jubilee
/ref>

Other Appointments and Honours

Snyman is an Honorary Life Member of the Pretoria Boys' High School Old Boys Association. He has been a member of Rotary from his days in Germiston, was president of a branch of the organization in Kimberley, and has been involved in the organization in Port Elizabeth. In 1999 he was made a

Paul Harris Fellow Paul Percy Harris (April 19, 1868 – January 27, 1947) was a Chicago, Illinois-based attorney. He founded the club that became the humanitarian organisation Rotary International in 1905. Personal life Harris was born in Racine, Wisconsin, to ...

. Ecclesiastical honours include being made an

honorary canon Canon () is a Christian title usually used to refer to a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, in one of the houses within the precinct of ...

of Kimberley Cathedral (1992) of Bloemfontein Cathedral (1997) and of Port Elizabeth (2008).

Author

Snyman is the author of various articles in church periodicals and magazines, and of a book .

On ordination of women

The Revd Fr Ruthell Johnson of St Paul’s, Parsons Hill, Port Elizabeth, has recalled: "I remember the provincial synod in Swaziland at which the final decision on the ordination of women was made. Fr Roy was part of the team representing the Diocese of Port Elizabeth. He was strongly against the ordination of women, yet as the synod progressed, God was at work within him. At the close of the debate Fr Roy stood up and made an impressive plea to the synod to allow women to enter the priesthood. His speech influenced the synod and when the vote was taken there was an overwhelming majority for the ordination of women."

Arms

Snyman had arms registered by the Bureau of Heraldry on 10 January 1979., Accessed 30 Aug 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snyman, Robin Roy 1934 births 2020 deaths People from Emakhazeni Local Municipality Deans of Kimberley South African military chaplains White South African people Alumni of Pretoria Boys High School