All timeline events
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1839
Ann Jacobs Arrives in South Australia
Ann Jacobs, later Ann Horrocks, arrives in South Australia at about twenty one years old. An original land grant records her purchase of the property that would become Moorooroo.
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1847
The Moorooroo Shiraz Vines Are Planted
Ann Jacobs plants Shiraz vines at Moorooroo, eleven years after the founding of South Australia. Four rows of that planting still survive today.
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1854
Theodor Schild Receives Land Near Grapetown
Theodor Schild was among the early settlers around Grapetown, Texas, and received a land deed on February 13, 1854.
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1856
Urs Schild and Dr Joseph Girard Found a Watch Movement Business in Grenchen
Urs Schild and Dr Joseph Girard found a small watch movement business in Grenchen, Switzerland. It grew over the following decades into what became known as Eterna.
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1860
August and Theodor Schild Appear in the Census
The 1860 U.S. Census for Fredericksburg, Gillespie County records Theodor Schild, about 42, a Saxony-born farmer — and immediately adjacent, August Schild, about 39, a Saxony-born merchant with a household of his own.
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1868
August Schild Named Postmaster of Fredericksburg
August Schild was recorded as postmaster of Fredericksburg in 1868, a role tied to his standing as a local merchant.
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1869
August Schild Continues as Postmaster
August Schild again appears as Fredericksburg’s postmaster in 1869. A later biographical source identifies Lena Schild as his daughter.
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1878
The Business Begins Producing Complete Watches
By the late 1870s the Grenchen workshop is producing complete watches, not only the movements inside them. The exact year is approximate.
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1888
Urs Schild Dies; the Next Generation Takes Over
Leadership of the Grenchen business passes to Urs Schild’s brother Adolf, his widow, and his sons Max and Theodor Schild.
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1896
Adolf Schild Founds A. Schild SA
Adolf Schild leaves the family firm to found his own movement manufacturer, A. Schild SA, later part of the lineage that led to ETA.
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1899
Theodor Schild Leads the Company Into the Wristwatch Era
Theodor Schild takes charge of the family business and leads it for more than three decades, guiding it into wristwatches.
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1905
The Eterna Trademark Is Registered
The name Eterna is registered as a trademark in Switzerland on November 11, 1905, and begins appearing publicly soon after.
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1916
The Kleemann Vineyard Is Planted
The Kleemann vineyard, high on the eastern hills above Rowland Flat, is planted. Its bush vines are still hand picked today.
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1920
Erwin Schild Born in Cologne Mülheim
Erwin Schild is born on March 9, 1920, in Cologne Mülheim, Germany, to businessman Hermann Schild and his wife Hetti.
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1924
Rolf Schild Born in Cologne
Rolf Schild was born in 1924 in Cologne, Germany, to a Jewish textile merchant. He later attended the Jawne Gymnasium in the late 1930s.
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1925
August W. Schild Jr. Born in Waco, Texas
August W. Schild Jr. was born in Waco, Texas, on March 1, 1925.
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1932
Eterna and ETA Become Separate Companies
During a difficult period for Swiss watch manufacturers, the watch business, Eterna, and the movement business, ETA, become separate companies, both still rooted in Grenchen.
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1938
The November Pogrom Reaches Würzburg
A mob attacks Erwin Schild’s seminary dormitory in Würzburg, and he witnesses the seminary building and its library burning the following day.
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1938
Erwin Schild Imprisoned at Dachau
At eighteen years old, Erwin Schild is imprisoned at Dachau concentration camp in the roundup that follows the November pogrom.
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1938
Released From Dachau
Erwin Schild is released from Dachau after a little over four weeks, on the condition that he emigrate from Germany.
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1939
Escape to the Netherlands, Then Britain
Erwin Schild leaves Nazi Germany, traveling first to the Netherlands and then to Britain, where he resumes his religious studies in London.
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1939
Escape on the Kindertransport
In 1939, fifteen year old Rolf Schild was sent to England via the Kindertransport, arriving in Liverpool. His parents stayed behind in Germany.
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1940
Kurt Schild Emigrates to the United States
Erwin’s older brother Kurt Schild emigrates to the United States, described in one account as among the last Jews able to leave Germany.
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1940
Classified an Enemy Alien and Sent to Canada
British authorities classify Erwin Schild, a refugee from Nazi persecution, as an enemy alien and deport him to Canada, where he is interned.
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1940
Classified an Enemy Alien, Interned on the Isle of Man
Classified an enemy alien in Britain, Rolf Schild was interned for a time on the Isle of Man, then transferred to Manchester, where he trained to operate a capstan lathe.
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1941
Hermann, Hetti, and Margot Schild Deported to Riga
Erwin’s parents Hermann and Hetti Schild, along with his sister Margot, are deported to the Riga ghetto. Hermann and Hetti do not survive; Margot survives further camps and a death march.
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1942
Released From Internment
Erwin Schild is released from internment in Canada, with assistance from the Canadian Jewish Congress, and goes on to study in Toronto.
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1942
Learns of His Parents’ Murder at Chełmno
Rolf Schild later learned that his parents had been murdered by the Nazis at the Chełmno extermination camp.
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WWII
Serves with the 513th Bombardment Squadron, 376th Heavy Bombardment Group
August W. Schild Jr. served as a Technical Sergeant and radio operator/gunner with the 513th Bombardment Squadron of the 376th Heavy Bombardment Group (“The Liberandos”), which flew B-24 Liberators from the Mediterranean theater into Europe. Exact service dates not yet verified.
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1947
Ordained as a Rabbi
Erwin Schild completes his rabbinical studies in Toronto and is ordained. Sources mostly agree on 1947, though one German source instead gives December 1944.
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1947
Becomes Rabbi of Adath Israel Congregation
Erwin Schild becomes rabbi of Adath Israel Congregation in Toronto, then numbering roughly one hundred fifty families. He remains its rabbi for more than forty years.
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1950s
Medical Engineering at New Electronics Products
Working at New Electronics Products under Zoltan Kellerman, Rolf Schild developed a phono cardiograph heart sound recorder, helped develop an early heart lung machine for polio patients with Hammersmith Hospital, and invented a catheter based pressure transducer, later adapted to measure aircraft engine airflow for Hawker Siddeley.
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1950s
Founds a Pressure Transducer Company With Peter Epstein
In the early 1950s, Rolf Schild founded a company with business partner Peter Epstein to develop pressure transducers. Sources disagree on its name — one calls it SE Technology, another SE Laboratories — and this archive has not been able to resolve which is correct.
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1950s
Charles Ray Schild Races at Playland Park
The earliest documented racing in this Houston Schild family: Charles Ray Schild competes at the stock car track inside Playland Park. No exact date has been confirmed, so an approximate decade is used here.
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1952
Ben and Alma Schild Settle Narrow Road
Ben and Alma Schild purchase and settle a property along historic Narrow Road near Rowland Flat, beginning the family’s documented Barossa vineyard story.
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1956
Ben Schild Dies; Ed Schild Takes Over at Sixteen
Ben Schild dies unexpectedly. His son Ed takes over the family property at sixteen years old and leads its expansion over the following decades.
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1972
Jerry Schild Begins Racing at Meyer Speedway
Jerry Schild starts racing at Meyer Speedway in Houston, the beginning of a career that would reach NASCAR's top series two years later.
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1973–1975
Hymatic Engineering Becomes Huntleigh Technology PLC
In 1973, Rolf Schild acquired control of Hymatic Engineering, a maker of military and aerospace components. In 1975, Hymatic merged into the Huntleigh Group, a shell company on the Unlisted Securities Market, becoming Huntleigh Technology PLC, based in Luton. The Schild family remained the largest shareholder, and the company won three Queen’s Awards for Export under his chairmanship.
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1974
Jerry Schild Races in NASCAR's Top Series
Jerry Schild makes five starts in NASCAR's top series, recording an eighth place finish at Darlington Raceway, the high point of his brief top level career.
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1979
Kidnapped for Ransom in Sardinia
While on holiday in Sardinia, Rolf Schild, his wife Daphne, and their teenage daughter were kidnapped for ransom by a gang calling itself Red Guerrilla — one of more than a dozen kidnappings on the island that year.
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1979
Rolf Released After Roughly Sixteen Days
Rolf Schild was released roughly sixteen days after the kidnapping began.
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1980
Daphne and Their Daughter Released
Daphne Schild was released in January 1980 after a ransom payment. Their daughter, whose name is recorded as both Annabelle and Annabel across sources, was released in March 1980, days after a family approved public appeal from Pope John Paul II helped break a news blackout. Ransom figures vary across sources at each stage, with a total of £220,000 recorded.
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1982
Thirteen Convicted for the Kidnapping
In 1982, thirteen people were convicted and jailed for the kidnapping.
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1989
Retires as Congregational Rabbi
After more than forty years as its rabbi, Erwin Schild retires from the pulpit at Adath Israel Congregation and is named Rabbi Emeritus.
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1993
The Family Purchases the Chenin Blanc Vineyard
The family purchases a vineyard later known as Workshop, at the time called the Chenin Blanc vineyard.
- 1997
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1999
Michael Schild Builds a Workshop Nearby
Michael Schild builds a new workshop just down the road from the Chenin Blanc vineyard, which becomes known afterward simply as Workshop.
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2001
Angus Brae Is Purchased
The family purchases a vineyard north of Lyndoch, naming it Angus Brae for Ed Schild’s grandson Angus and the Scottish word for a steep hillside.
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2001
Member of the Order of Canada
Erwin Schild is made a Member of the Order of Canada for his decades of work improving Christian and Jewish dialogue and reconciliation.
- 2003
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2003
Jerry Schild Wins a Texas State Championship
Decades after his NASCAR season, Jerry Schild wins a state championship racing at Houston area short tracks.
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2006
Jerry Schild Wins a Houston Motorsports Park Track Championship
Jerry Schild wins a track championship at Houston Motorsports Park, the track his niece Gina would later take over running.
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2009
Six Weeks After Surgery
Jerry Schild donates a kidney to his sister Linda, then returns to racing only weeks after the surgery.
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2012
Jerry Schild Dies
Jerry Schild dies in Tioga, North Dakota, closing out a racing career that spanned four decades, from a Houston short track debut in 1972 to a NASCAR Cup season in 1974. Press coverage reported his death as a shooting.
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2019
Gina Schild Knowles Takes Over Houston Motorsports Park
Gina Schild Knowles takes over the lease of Houston Motorsports Park, moving her branch of the family from driving into running the track itself.
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2020
Houston Motorsports Park Regains NASCAR Sanctioning
Under Gina Schild Knowles, Houston Motorsports Park regains NASCAR sanctioning, restoring the track's standing within the sport her family had raced in for generations.
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2022
The Family Returns Its Focus to the Vineyards
The family announces plans to sell the Schild Estate winery. The winery moves to Atlas Wines and the wine brand to CW Wines, while the family keeps its vineyards. Ed Schild steps back from leading the business and his son Michael takes over.
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2024
Erwin Schild Dies in Toronto
Erwin Schild dies in Toronto on January 6, 2024, at the age of 103.
More events will be added as further records — birth, marriage, immigration, military, and land records — are found and verified.