Sir George Albu, 1st Baronet (26 October 1857 – 27 December 1935) was a mining magnate in the diamond and gold industries of South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

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History

George Albu was born in Brandenburg

Brandenburg

Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in 1857. The sons of Simon Albu (26 February 1830 - 26 February 1911) and Fanny Sternberg (d. 24 October 1912), George and his brother Leopold were German Jews who emigrated to South Africa in 1876. On arrival in Cape Town, George became an assistant at the haberdashery counter in Stuttafords. After some time in Cape Town, they moved to the diamond-fields of Kimberley

Kimberley, Northern Cape

Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...

, accumulated financial interests, and sold out to De Beers

De Beers

De Beers is a family of companies that dominate the diamond, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. De Beers is active in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea...

 at a substantial profit, before settling on the Witwatersrand

Witwatersrand

The Witwatersrand is a low, sedimentary range of hills, at an elevation of 1700–1800 metres above sea-level, which runs in an east-west direction through Gauteng in South Africa. The word in Afrikaans means "the ridge of white waters". Geologically it is complex, but the principal formations...

 and becoming a naturalized Transvaal

South African Republic

The South African Republic , often informally known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer-ruled country in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century. Not to be confused with the present-day Republic of South Africa, it occupied the area later known as the South African...

 citizen in 1887. George Albu purchased the ailing Meyer and Charlton Mine, restructured it, and on 30 December 1895 he and his brother established General Mining and Finance Corporation. Naturalized as a UK citizen in 1911, he was created 1st Baronet Albu of Johannesburg on 12 February 1912 — at that time baronetcies

Baronet

A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...

 were bestowed on a large number of Randlords. In 1911 Sir George Albu bought the Parktown mansion

Parktown mansions

The mansions of Parktown are an important part of the history of the city of Johannesburg. They were the homes of the Randlords, accountants, military personnel and other influential residents of early Johannesburg, dating back as early as the 1890s...

, Northwards, (designed by Herbert Baker

Herbert Baker

Sir Herbert Baker was a British architect.Baker was the dominant force in South African architecture for two decades, 1892–1912....

 in 1904) for £12,000 (Colonel John Dale Lace

John Dale Lace

Colonel John Dale Lace was a South African gold and diamond mining magnate and Randlord. He was born in Port St Mary on the Isle of Man....

 and wife Josephine, the previous owners, had paid £21 000 for the house). He held the office of Danish General Consul to Johannesburg in 1913 and was decorated with the Order of the Dannebrog

Order of the Dannebrog

The Order of the Dannebrog is an Order of Denmark, instituted in 1671 by Christian V. It resulted from a move in 1660 to break the absolutism of the nobility. The Order was only to comprise 50 noble Knights in one class plus the Master of the Order, i.e. the Danish monarch, and his sons...

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In the 1960s and 1970s General Mining and Finance Corporation merged with Federale Mynbou and Union Corporation, became Gencor, then Billiton, then BHP Billiton

BHP Billiton

BHP Billiton is a global mining, oil and gas company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and with a major management office in London, United Kingdom...

, one of the largest mining houses in the world, with interests in Borneo, China, Australia, South America and South Africa. Together with Cecil John Rhodes

Cecil John Rhodes

Cecil John Rhodes PC, DCL was an English-born South African businessman, mining magnate, and politician. He was the founder of the diamond company De Beers, which today markets 40% of the world's rough diamonds and at one time marketed 90%...

, Barney Barnato

Barney Barnato

Barney Barnato , born Barnet Isaacs, was a British Randlord, one of the entrepreneurs who gained control of diamond mining, and later gold mining, in South Africa from the 1870s.-Background:...

, Alfred Beit

Alfred Beit

Alfred Beit was a German, British South African, Jewish gold and diamond magnate, a supporter of British imperialism in Southern Africa and a major donor towards infrastructure development in central and Southern Africa, and to university education and research in several countries.- Life and...

 and others, the Albu brothers belonged to the wealthy and influential Randlord

Randlord

Randlord is a term used to denote the entrepreneurs who controlled the diamond and gold mining industries in South Africa in its pioneer phase from the 1870s up to World War I....

 set. He died in Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

 in 1935.

Family

George Albu (1857-1935) married Gertrude Frederike Alice Rosendorff (d. 18 April 1950), daughter of Max Rosendorff and Emilie, on 9 December 1888. They produced six children:

1. Charlotte Frederike Albu d. 28 Nov 1965 with no issue. On 5 September 1933 married Rt. Rev. Wilfred Parker b. 23 January 1883, d. 22 June 1966.
2. Katherine Victoria Albu. Married in 1913 to Erroll Gordon Hay d. 2 November 1964.
3. Alice Ernestine Albu. On 4 September 1924 married Captain Nigel James Bengough. Flying Corps in the First World War.
   1. Sir Piers Henry George Bengough
      Piers Bengough
      Colonel Sir Piers Henry George Bengough, KCVO OBE DL was Her Majesty's Representative at Ascot, in the Royal Household 1984–1997....
      
       b. 24 May 1929 d. 18 April 2005. OBE 1973, KCVO 1986. Lieutenant-Colonel in The Royal Hussars. In 1952 married Bridget Adams (International Figure Skating Champion 1949). They had two sons.
4. Captain Walter George Albu b. 23 Jul 1892, d. 29 May 1920. Fought in the First World War. Lieutenant in Royal Irish Fusiliers (Special Reserve). Captain in Royal Air Force. Order of St. Stanislaus of Russia, Croix de Guerre (avec palmes)
5. Irene Elsie Albu b. 9 Jun 1900, d. 24 Jun 1924. On 7 September 1923 married William Dalrymple, son of Sir William Dalrymple.
6. Sir George Werner Albu, 2nd Bt. b. 3 Sep 1905, d. 18 Feb 1963 married Kathleen Betty Dicey d. 19 February 1956
   1. Georgina Albu b. 9 Feb 1930, d. 8 Aug 1981
   2. Susan Nomakepu Albu b. 8 Jun 1932, d. 7 Oct 2011
   3. Julia Mary Albu b. 13 Jun 1937
   4. Caroline Albu b. 10 Jun 1943 married a Lorentz
   5. Sir George Albu, 3rd Bt. b. 5 June 1944 married Joan Valerie Millar, daughter of Malcom Millar, on 23 April 1969. Michaelhouse School, Cedara Agricultural College, London Tutorial College, South African Light Horse Regiment
      Light Horse Regiment
      The Light Horse Regiment , formerly the Imperial Light Horse , is a reserve unit of the South African Army. The regiment is an armoured car reconnaissance unit...
      
      . Residence (2003) Glen Hamish Farm, Richmond, Natal
      1. Camilla Jane Albu b. 22 Aug 1972 Durban. On 4 May 1996 married Gary Neilsen
      2. Victoria Mary Albu b. 14 Jan 1976 Durban. On 15 Jan 2005 married Willie-James Ward

Bruce Scott Albu b.10 Aug.1960