Portrait of Julius Wernher

People/magnate, financier

Julius Wernher

Julius Wernher (1850–1912), magnate, financier, from Germany. Linked to diamonds, gold.

The lucky break

Reached Kimberley in January 1871 for the diamond merchant Jules Porges. When Charles Mege left in 1873 he became the firm's partner and sole representative there.1,2,3,4

Legacy

A leader in consolidating the Kimberley mines into De Beers Consolidated in 1888. The firm became Wernher, Beit and Co. in 1890. He gave 250,000 pounds to Imperial College and left a Watteau to the National Gallery. He became a baronet in 1905.1,2,3,4

Story cards

Timeline

  1. 1888De Beers Consolidated Mines founded5
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Where next

People

Partner ofAlfred BeitWernher, Beit and Co. grew out of the Kimberley diamond trade.1,2

Mines

Worked atKimberley Big HoleHe reached Kimberley in 1871 as an agent and became partner by 1873.1

Events

FinancedDe Beers Consolidated Mines foundedHe helped merge the Kimberley mines into De Beers Consolidated.1

Sources

  1. Dictionary of National Biography, 1927 supplement: Wernher, Julius Charles Wikisource (public domain source text)
  2. Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement: Beit, Alfred Wikisource (public domain source text)
  3. Wikidata item Q1662249
  4. File pages and licence metadata for portraits (via the Commons imageinfo/extmetadata API) Wikimedia Commons
  5. De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. is founded (13 March 1888) South African History Online

Pictures on this page: Julius Wernher02.jpg, Hubert von Herkomer (German-born British artist (1849-1914)) (Public domain); Alfred Beit00.jpg, Giovanni Boldini (Public domain).

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0; Underground mining equipment by Kaupo Kikkas, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Pangkalpinang. Mijn 3b. Een reeks koelies bezig met het transporteeren van grond, Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Mijnramp Bois du Caizier, Marcinelle, België. Schacht, Rossem, Wim van / Anefo / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).