Sir Bernard Oppenheimer, 1st Baronet (13 February 1866 – 13 June 1921) was a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

merchant and philanthropist.

Business and philanthropy

Oppenheimer was chairman of Pniel's Ltd, the New

Vaal River The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Ocean. ...

Diamond & Exploration Company, and Blaauwbosch Diamonds Ltd, and

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Lewis & Marks Ltd of

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its root ...

. His brother,

Sir Ernest Oppenheimer Sir Ernest Oppenheimer (22 May 1880 – 25 November 1957), Order of Saint John (chartered 1888), KStJ was a diamond and gold mining entrepreneur, financier and philanthropist, who controlled De Beers Consolidated Mines, De Beers and founded the ...

, was also heavily involved in the diamond industry. In July 1917, Oppenheimer established a scheme for training disabled soldiers in

diamond cutting Diamond cutting is the practice of shaping a diamond from a rough stone into a faceted gem. Cutting diamonds requires specialized knowledge, tools, equipment, and techniques because of its extreme difficulty. The first guild of diamond cutters and ...

at Brighton,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The Bernard Oppenheimer Diamond Works (National Diamond Factories Ltd) opened on Lewes Road/Coombe Road (north side) on 17 May 1918. It was mainly paid for by Oppenheimer himself and by Lewis & Marks. In 1920 it also opened branches in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

and Fort William. By 1921 the works, including a second building on the opposite side of Coombe Road, employed about 2,000 men who were referred to it by the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

. New men received six months training, during which they were paid a maintenance allowance by the government, and were then virtually guaranteed employment at a good wage. The factory had a well-equipped

clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...

to provide ongoing care for the employees, many of whom were

amputee Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indiv ...

s or otherwise severely disabled. The business did not do well and closed in 1923, but reopened later the same year. It finally went into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...

in 1924. In 1917, he purchased the Sefton Park estate,

Stoke Poges Stoke Poges () is a village and civil parish in south-east Buckinghamshire, England. It is centred north-north-east of Slough, its post town, and southeast of Farnham Common. Etymology In the name Stoke Poges, ''stoke'' means " stockaded (pl ...

, Buckinghamshire, where he lived until his death. During that period, he and his near neighbour, Walter A. Judd bought land which included Gray's Monument in Stoke Poges, a memorial to the English poet,

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, classical scholar, and professor at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is widely known for his '' Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,'' published in 1751. G ...

, so as to save it for the public.Rigby,Lionel. Stoke Poges:A Buckinghamshire Village through 1000 years(2000) Phillimore.p.67 & 112. ISBN 781860771316 In 1925 Gray's Monument and Gray's Field were handed over to the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

Baronetcy

For his work with the disabled, Oppenheimer was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

in the

1921 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1921 were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. They were published on 31 December 1920. The recipients of honours are displayed her ...

. He died suddenly six months later at the age of 55. He married Lena Straus, with whom he had six children.''Geni'', 23 May 2018

Arms

Footnotes

References

*Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', 14 June 1921 1866 births 1921 deaths Diamond cutting British Jews British businesspeople British philanthropists South African people of German-Jewish descent South African Jews South African businesspeople South African philanthropists Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom

Bernard Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "bra ...

British people of German-Jewish descent Diamond industry {{SouthAfrica-business-bio-stub