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Yorkshire Chess History |
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Contents: |
George Adolphus Schott |
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Non-Chess Life
George Adolphus’s family’s members seem in some cases to have been commonly known not by their first forenames but by one of their middle names. Consequently, they were sometimes listed in census returns omitting their first forenames. Also, when more than one forename or initial was included, then they weren’t always presented in the same order. More-formal non-census sources are here taken as most reliable as regards ordering of forenames.huu
George Adolphus’s parents were Gustavus Adolphus John Schott (born 1842/43, Germany) and Julia Sophia Henrietta Schott (born 1842/43, Germany). Father George’s second forename was sometimes written merely as Gustav.
The couple had at least the following four children, all born in Bradford:
The baptism register of St. John’s, Bradford, records the baptism by the incumbent, R. W. Lousemore, on 14/04/1868, of George Adolph [not Adolphus] Schott, son of Gustavus Adolphus John Schott, yarn spinner of Little Horton lane, Bradford, and “Sophie Henrietta Julia Schott”. The child’s date of birth was given as 25/01/1868. Apart from “Sophie” instead of “Sophia”, the mother’s forenames appear to be in the wrong order, the “Sophie Henrietta” being above the “Julia”.
George Adolphus Schott seems to have been known, at least among the family, as “Adolphus” rather than “George”. George Gustavus Schott seems to have been known as “George”. “Gustavus” would apply to the father.
The 1871 census found the Schott family spread across two addresses. Father Gustavus and eldest child, 4-year-old Charles, were at 33 Smithfield Square, Bradford, with two servants. Mother Julia and the next two children, 3-year-old [George] Adolphus and 1-year-old Theresa, were at 182 Lumb Lane, Manningham, Bradford. 28-year-old Gustavus was a woollen, cotton and silk yarn manufacturer.
It seems Theresa must have died, as she disappears from census records.
Both George Adolphus Schott and George Gustavus Schott were educated at Bradford Grammar School [1].
The 1881 census found “Gustavous [sic] A. J. Schott”, “H. S. Julia Schott”, 14-year-old “Charles A. E. Schott”, 13-year-old “Adolphus G. Schott”, 8-year-old “George C. Schott”, and two servants living at 26 Ashfield, Little Horton, Bradford. Boarding with the family was 28-year-old Charles J. Schott, who was born in Germany, and was described as a student of natural philosophy.
This boarder was presumably a nephew or other relative who had come to England to be educated. He is likely to have been Charles Jacob Schott, born 1852/53, at Frankfurt, who in time married a Bradford-born wife who was born 1863/64, and was variously named in censuses as “Maria Florence Schott”, “Florence Schott”, and “Florence H[ or “M” ?]. Schott”. The Charles Jacob Schott became a fancy-yarn manufacturer, and later a commercial traveller. He became a naturalised British citizen in 1893 (per 1911 census). He moved from relatively central Bradford, possibly first to Liversedge by 1901, then out to Shipley by 1911. (The 1901 Liversedge resident’s wife, Florence, was incongruously given as born at Newton Heath, Lancashire; he also has an 8-year-old son, Hermann.)
On 14/06/1886, George Adolphus Schott was admitted as a pensioner at Trinity College, Cambridge, matriculating at Michaelmas 1886, and then embarking on the Natural Science Tripos, leading to a BA in 1890 (Cambridge didn’t use the term BSc). He then got a BSc at London. [1]
The 1891 census found parents Gustavus and Julia living with Charles, [George] Adolphus, George, and two servants, at 17 St. Andrews Place, Horton, Bradford. Father Gustavus was now a machine maker. Whether that meant he made machines, or made things with machines isn’t clear. Charles was a correspondent and bookkeeper. Both [George] Adolphus and George [Gustavus] were students of natural philosophy (i.e. science).
On 15/06/1891, Adolphus’s younger brother George Gustavus was admitted as a pensioner to Trinity College, Cambridge, going on to get his BA in 1894.
In 1893 he became a physics lecturer at University College, Aberystwyth. [1]
The 1901 census found 58-year-old parents Gustavus and Julia living with sons Charles and George Gustavus, and two servants, at 8 Eldon Place, Bradford. One would expect to find George Adolphus Schott in the Welsh census at Aberystwyth, and there was 35-year-old German-born unmarried Adolph Schott who was one of two boarders at 34 Marine Terrace, Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire. This doesn’t look quite like our man as, apart from the age, which should have been 33, the occupation was that of a musician, working on his own account.
In April 1901, seemingly shortly after his 59th birthday, the father, Gustavus Adolphus John Schott, died. His death was registered in the first quarter of 1901, at Bradford.
The mother, Julia Sophia Henrietta Schott, of 10 Belle Vue, Bradford, died on 12/05/1903, aged 60, at 30 Hallfield Road, Bradford. Administration of her estate was granted to Charles Edward Anthony Schott, cashier. She left £ 1,857 14s 7d.
In 1909, George Adolphus Schott became Doctor of Science at London. In the same year he became Professor of Applied Mathematics at Aberystwyth, holding that post to 1933. [1]
The 1911 Welsh census found 43-year-old unmarried George Adolph [no “-us”] Schott, professor of applied mathematics at University College [Aberystwyth], as a lodger at the home of a Sarah Jones, her sister and niece, 38 Portland Street, Aberystwyth. Also listed there was 44-year-old Arthur Brooke, a “joint occupier”, who was a demonstrator of chemistry at University College. He was a fellow Yorkshireman, having been born at Kirkburton, to the SE of Huddersfield.
George Adolphus Schott got married in 1913 [1]. Details, including the bride’s name, are elusive.
He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1922. [1]
In 1933 he became Vice-Principal at Aberystwyth for a year. [1]
He published works on subjects such as radiation produced by electrons approaching the speed of light, and in time it was realised the light observed in the vicinity of certain particle accelerators was a manifestation of radiation he had predicted. Electromagnetic radiation: And the mechanical reactions arising from it was published in 1912.
Death
George Adolphus Schott, of Tanyvoel, North Road, Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire, died on 15/07/1937, aged 69, at Aberystwyth, the death being registered at Cardigan. Probate was granted to Tony Schott, widow, and Vernon Charles Morton, professor of mathematics. He left £6,427 17s 10d.
Strictly, the statement that Tony Schott was a widow was a statement of her occupational status rather than implying she was the wife of the deceased, which would be explicitly expressed with the phrase “widow, relict”. Nevertheless she was presumably his wife.
Chess
He attended the West Yorkshire Chess Association meetings of 1883, 1884, 1885 and 1886. In 1883 there was also in attendance a C. J. Schott, who was presumably the German-born Charles J. Schott who was boarding in the Schott household in 1881, who by then would be about 30 years old, and was probably the Charles Jacob Schott mentioned above.
He played in the Woodhouse Cup for Bradford from start.
While resident in Bradford he played in the following events (besides purely local ones, of course):
The Leeds Mercury Weekly Supplement of 25/08/1888, after giving the score of Guest 0-1 Schott in the 1888 BCA Amateur Championship, commented regarding Schott, “ . . . and great credit is due to the captain of the Oxford University Chess Club for his achievement [in beating Guest]. Mr. Schott was a prominent player in the Bradford Club before his removal to the University.” James White was clearly confusing Oxford and Cambridge, but his comment makes it evident that our man was captain of Cambridge University Chess Club at the time.
While resident in Aberystwyth he played in the following:
References: 1 Venn
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Created 15/07/2013 |
Copyright © 2013 Stephen John Mann Census information is copyright of The National Archive, see UK Census Information |
Last Updated 15/07/2013 |