Born on March 12, 1911, William Hitler was a son of Alois Hitler Jr. and Bridget Dowling. The family lived in Liverpool at the time, making Adolph Hitler’s nephew a British citizen. His half-brother Alois Jr, the oldest child of Alois Hitler Sr. and his second wife Franziska “Fanni” Matzelsberger. Fed up with constant quarrels with his father, Alois Jr. fled home at an early age. He ended up in Ireland, where he met his future wife Bridget Dowling at Dublin Horse Show. Alois Jr. was working as a kitchen porter in a local hotel, barely making ends meet. That didn’t stop him from introducing himself to Bridget and her father as a wealthy hotelier touring Europe. He began courting Bridget and the couple eventually eloped to London and got married. Bridget’s father was furious and threaten to report them to police. Only Bridget’s pleading saved Alois Jr. from prison. They moved to Liverpool, to 102 Upper Stanhope Street and in 1911 had their only child, William. The house was destroyed by German bombs in 1942 and never rebuilt.
In 1914 Alois went to Germany to start a business, but the war caught him there. Bridget refused to accompany him, as he has developed a mean streak and was violent toward her and little William. Alois remained in Germany and tried to fake his own death so that he could marry again. He was discovered in 1924 and charged with bigamy. Once more, Bridget pleas saved him from going to jail.
Young William first visited Germany in 1929. He returned in 1934, trying to talk his uncle, who was in power by then, into finding him a job. He changed several, working as a clerk in a bank, in Opel car factory, and as a car salesman. Dissatisfied with those, he repeatedly tried to blackmail Hitler by threating to reveal details of family past, especially that Adolph’s real grandfather was a Jew. Finally, Hitler agreed to find him a high-ranking job on condition that William renounces his British citizenship. Sensing a trap, William fled to Britain in 138. He tried to cash in on his family ties by writing an article Why I Hate My Uncle, but without much success.
In 1939, William Randolph Hearst offered him a U.S. speaking tour, and William accepted. His mother accompanied him across the Atlantic. While they were in America, the war started in Europe. William tried to enlist in the U.S. Navy but failed. Only after he wrote a personal letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt was he allowed to enlist as a Pharmacist’s Mate. He was wounded on duty and received a Purple Heart.
William Hitler stayed in the Navy until 1947. After he was discharged, he changed his name to Stuart-Houston. He married Phyllis Jean-Jacques and moved to Long Island, where the couple had four sons. William Hitler died in 1987. None of his sons had any children, effectively ending Adolph Hitler’s bloodline.
