William Schulitz (1821-1889)

William Schulitz (c. 1821 - 29 June 18892) was a pawnbroker in the City of Adelaide, and one of the few Jews with a German name and coming from continental Europe.

Wilhelm Schulitz
Born	c. 1921 Nashwa, Poland, Russia
Died	29 June 1889 Kent Town, South Australia
Resting place	Jewish Section, West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide, South Australia
Nationality	Russian British
Other names	William Schulitz William Victor Schulitz
Occupation	coach trimmer pawnbroker
Spouse(s)	1. Julia Lazarus (1833-1908) (married 1855 Adelaide, South Australia)

Biography

Created by Benjamin Hollister and made available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0.

In Poland/Russia

Schulitz's origin is enigmatic. His naturalisation notes that he was a citizen of the city of Nashwa, Poland in Russia. This seems to indicate that his was from the lands of the former Polish Kingdom that had been annexed by the Russian Empire during the various partitions of Poland during the late 18th and early 19th century; however, no city of that name or similar has been identified. Nor is his date or even year of birth known, with records variously indicating 1819, 1823 and 1824. His gravestone in the Jewish section of the Adelaide West Terrace Cemetery indicates that his actual name was Avigdor and his father's name was Avram, and his wife's will indicates he had a sister Augusta who lived in Bromberg, Prussia and had married a man with the surname Elias, and that they, in turn, had a daughter Amelia.

In England

Prior to migrating to Australia, Schulitz stated that he was resident in Great Britain or Ireland for nine years, with an estimated arrival of 1840, but no record can be found in the 1841 Census of England and Wales. Based on his various years of birth, he would have been between 16 and 21 at the time of his arrival, and he presumably carried on in the coach trimming trade

In Australia

Schulitz arrived in South Australia in about 1849, but the vessel he arrived on is not known. He is first documented in a number of reports of court proceedings from July 1849 onwards, with the first time he is described as a pawnbroker being November 1853. Over the next few years, Schulitz appears regularly in the Adelaide newspapers, usually involved with court cases relating to stolen goods (which he typically had identified and reported, although sometimes was suspected of fencing), or giving to the war relief fund for the Crimean War, possibly due to his origin within the Russian Empire, and as the executor of deceased estates. Schulitz and Julia apaprently had no children, as no registrations in South Australia have been identified and none were named in wills, although a Mrs and Miss Schulitz and a Miss Saunders were mentioned as vacationing in Victor Harbor in 1905 (although may have in fact been a Miss Lazarus, sister or niece of Julia). William is also noted as playing a lead role in the early days of the Adelaide Hebrew Congregation while Julia was involved in supporting fundraising events for the Synagogue after Williams death. Like many other non-British citizens, William chose to take part in wider British society both through being a member of the Militia and of fraternal lodges.

By 1876, William had closed his pawnbroking business and taken up residence in Kent Town where he stayed until his death in 1889.

Timeline

Date	Event	Source	Notes

Family

William and Julia had no children, and William does not appear to have had any relatives in Australia.

Residences in the City

Dates	Place	Current Address	Co-ordinates

Work in the City

Dates	Place	Current Address	Co-ordinates