The SCHÜTZ family

"My Swiss Grandfather"

This page provides additional details of the documentary evidence that I have collected relating to by grandfather, Johann SCHÜTZ, who was born in Switzerland circa 1862.

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My grandmother, Mary Jane WEDDELL, was born on 18th March 1862 in Liverpool, the youngest of 12 children. On 11th April 1883, she married Richard EDWARDS at St Mary's Church, Edge Hill, Lancashire.

They are both shown in the 1891 census (RG12/290), but what happened between then and 1897 is a mystery, and it is not known whether Richard Edwards died, or if they just parted.

It is impossible to locate his death as there are numerous "Richard Edwards" listed in the deaths indexes for the period in the Liverpool area, let alone the rest of the country!. It is equally impossible to locate him in the 1901 census for similar reasons.

On 25th January 1897, Mary Jane had a daughter (my aunt) who was registered as Maria Rosa Schutz. The birth certificate gave the father's name as John Schutz, and she described herself as Mary Jane Schutz, formerly Edwards.

Notwithstanding this description, I have not found any record of a marriage between John Schutz and Mary Jane Edwards in England, Wales or Scotland.

John Schutz is described as an "Eating House Keeper", and they were living at 5 Fernlea Road, Balham, London; the address is confirmed by the contemporary street directory.

On 25th March 1899, my father, John Reginald, was born in Liverpool. The details given on the birth certificate concerning the parents were identical to those previously given, except that John Schutz gave his occupation as being a Hotel Chef.

The 1901 Census for Chingford, Essex records Mary Jane Schutz, aged 35, as head of the family, living with her two children, Maria R. aged 4 and John R. aged 2, at 59 Stanley Rd. John Schutz is not present, and he does not appear in the Census Index.

However, by 1902, the family were again together in Liverpool, where the family photograph below was taken. It is inscribed "Liverpool 1902" and "11/8/02".

This is the only picture that I have of my grandfather, and following the practice at the time, my father (on the left) is wearing a skirt.

I also have a studio photograph of the two children, taken a little later, by a firm of photographers which had branches in Sheffield, Nottingham, Derby and Barnsley. My father said that the first school he attended was in Sheffield

According to my father, the family moved frequently, presumably in order to seek work, finally settling down in Watford, Hertfordshire in about 1909, where John Schutz is recorded in Kelly's directory for 1909/10 at 3 Grover Road and in 1910/11 at 98 St James Road.

My father also said that during this time my grandfather went to Canada, where he worked as a chef on the railway, returning prior to WW1. Around this time the family moved to 45a Collingbourne Rd, Shepherds Bush, where my father went to the local school, subsequently joining the army in 1917 and serving in the Machine Gun Corps.

It is uncertain when my father started to use the name "Edwards", but he is recorded as Reginald John Edwards in his army discharge papers and in the medal roll.

My father married in 1922, and soon after, my grandparents and my aunt (who was single) moved to 97 Frithville Gardens, Shepherds Bush. Here, their "dual identity" is apparent, as the Electoral register for the period refers to John Schutz and Mary Schutz, whilst the privately produced street directory gave the occupant as Mrs M. Edwards. My aunt, although registered as Maria Rosa, is shown on the Electoral register as Marie Edwards.

The house in Frithville Gardens was bombed in 1940, my grandfather was admitted initially the Swiss Nursing Home in Conway Street, St Pancras, and subsequently to St Pancras Hospital where he died on 30th November 1940.

The Swiss Nursing Home was run by the "Schweizerische Hilfsverein/Fonds de Secours Suisse", which the Swiss Embassy advises is a charity of the Swiss living in England called the "Swiss Benevolent Society". They advised that the archives showed that Johann Schutz was given financial support in the years 1937 until shortly before his death in 1940, and that the funds to support him were given through the Canton of Bern.

The only possessions that I have belonging to my grandfather are his pocket watch and a 5 franc Swiss coin of 1881 commemorating the 400th anniversary of the admission of Fribourg into the Swiss Confederation.

My father spoke passable German; I had always assumed that this was because he was employed by a German company in London (Bayer Pharmaceuticals), but now I suspect that he may have learnt it from his father and got the job because he spoke German.

My grandmother, born Mary Jane Weddell, subsequently Mary Jane Edwards and then
Mary Jane Schütz, died in 1964, aged 102. She was buried as Mary Jane Edwards, and her death certificate, on which her daughter (my aunt) was the informant, is a mixture of half truths.

Unfortunately, my aunt who had kept all the family papers, left instructions in her will for them to be destroyed. Her solicitor, who was her executor, carried out her instructions to the letter.

Page designed 14th April 2006
Reformatted and updated:5th December 2006