Faces from the past: My great uncle Alex

Alexander Andrew SCHULTZ,
date unknown but possibly taken during
or immediately after World War 1

I have just recently acquired boxes and boxes of old family photos, which as a keen amateur genealogist is something I am really very excited about. In time I want to share them with as many family members as possible, so as a starting point I thought I would share some on my blog.

Amongst the photos were these three which have been identified as being of my 2x great uncle, Alexander Andrew SCHULTZ. 

Alex was of one of the younger brothers of my maternal great grandfather and was born on the 28th of February 1890 in Gordon (East Gore), New Zealand. He was the eighth child of nine born to Marianna (nee RYDZEWSKA) and Johann SCHULTZ, Polish immigrants who arrived in New Zealand in 1872.

As a member of the Wanganui
Garrison Band, NZ Champions 1937

I don’t know a lot about Alex as yet but like my great grandfather Jim (who was one of his older brothers), he was a painter and paperhanger by trade. He was educated in Gore and spent some of his adult life living and working there before moving away to live in Wanganui, where he died in 1963, aged 72 years. 

As far as I am aware Alex never married nor had any children. His main interest in life was playing the trombone and he was a member of many different bands throughout his lifetime. He enjoyed playing in band competitions and regularly travelled throughout New Zealand to compete.

In the future I hope to find out a lot more about Alex and the rest of his siblings, especially to see what life was like for them during the period of the first world war. Carrying a surname that was often thought of as being German may have been problematic for them so I would love to find out more about this time in their lives.