Born as Karl E Kürz on the 5th of October in Pfullingen, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany in 1862, the first record of Charles in England in 1884. He married Jane M Bird on Christmas that year, and went on to have 4 sons and 3 daughters, including Maud Phoebe Kurz in 1890.
Maud (better known as Phoebe) is the maternal grandmother of Eric Sydney Rice, after whom this collection is named. Maude married a man by the name of Henry John Charles Horney, who tragically committed suicide 6 months after the birth of their second child – Eric’s mother, Lilian Rose Horney.
Around 1900, the large family lived in Rotherhithe, London. According to court records, Charles made an honest, official living as a furniture upholsterer, in addition to a rather dishonest second job as a fraudster.
Kurz Family: Father Charles, Mother Jane (Jenny) and children Maud Phoebe, Albert, Violet, Charles, Beatrice, Harold, and Horace (youngest not pictured; which child is which is uncertain)
On May 31st, 1910, at the age of 48, Charles was summoned to the Old Bailey Courthouse to appear on charges of fraud. The following is a dramatized version of the court transcript from the hearing. All of the dialogue is accurate to what was said in court:
Old Bailey Courthouse Proceedings – May 31st, 1910