Yorkshire Chess History

 

Contents:

George Cohnitz

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Born:

1841/42, Prussia

Baptised:

Died:

Buried:

 

Non-Chess Life

 

George Cohnitz was recorded in the 1861 census as having been born in Prussia, in 1841/42, but quite when he arrived in this country is not clear.

 

The 1861 census found him as a 19-year-old, Prussian-born clerk to a stuff merchant.  He was living as a lodger at 68 Crystal Terrace, Cecil Street, Manchester.

 

In time he moved to Bradford, presumably through contacts made in the stuff-merchanting business.

 

White’s Directory of Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield &c, 1866, listed George Cohnitz, manager, Hallfield Road, Bradford.

 

Further references to him are elusive.

 

Enigmatically, there was a “George Centcis” born about 1842 in Prussia who found his way to Martell, Winsconsin in the USA, being a farmer in 1870.  His surname looks close to some alternative rendering of a Slavonic surname rendered “Cohnitz” in German, but is unlikely to be our man.

 

There was a Georg Ferdinand Cohnitz who died aged 60 on 13/06/1903 in the vicinity of Charlottenburg, Germany.  His age implies birth in 1842/43, so this could conceivably be the Bradford chess-player.

 

Chess

 

He represented Bradford in the two-match contest with Huddersfield in April 1864, in both matches playing against Huddersfield’s John Eastwood, winning three games and losing three games.

 

 

Created

25/04/2012

Copyright © 2012, 2015 Stephen John Mann

Census information is copyright of The National Archive, see UK Census Information

Last Updated

11/01/2015