Frosterley (continued)

William Snowball had lived at Frosterley for only 10 years when ill health forced him into early retirement. He died at his country property at Narracan, Victoria, on 22 April 1902.

Frosterley was then leased by the proprietors of a private school who gave it the name University High School, which provided board for male pupils. The school vacated the premises in 1907 when the lease was taken over by the Commonwealth Government to accommodate the newly formed Bureau. The Commonwealth purchased the property in 1924.

Now we come to the remarkable coincidences connected with the naming of Frosterley. According to Sally Snowball Rowe, the fact that a Dr Snowball lived, and had his surgery, in a building with the name Frosterley caused some hilarity among the residents of Carlton and Melbourne at that time. But the origin of the name came from the family association with the village of Frosterley in County Durham, England, which was the birthplace of Dr William Snowball's father John. There was a close family association with the county from which Dr William Snowball's parents, John and Katherine, came. Their residence in North Melbourne bore the name Durham House.

The remarkable coincidence of Dr William Snowball naming his residence Frosterley became even more remarkable when the Commonwealth Government leased and later purchased the building to house the Weather Bureau. This was made even more of a coincidence when long-serving members of the Bureau and former members of the RAAF Meteorological Service (not knowing how the building came to have its name) decided to name their newly-formed social club Frosterley because of the happy memories of their time in that building. Almost every member of the Bureau had worked in or visited the building many times as young meteorological trainees.

Bureau of Meteorology