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In the article below, Oscar Norwich, Johannesburg historian and collector, tells the story of the rise and fall of Barney Barnato, mining magnate of Kimberley and Johannesburg. Thank you to the Norwich family for their kind permission to publish this article.
In the mid-1890s, when the share boom had reached its feverish climax, Barney Barnato was probably the richest and without doubt the most powerful financier in South Africa. His property and mine holdings had a market value of over £20 million and it was estimated that in the summer months of 1895 he earned five pounds for every minute of his working day.
Barney Barnato (Wikipedia)
Who was this flamboyant character who showed such sparks of financial genius? He was born Barnett Isaacs in the heart of London’s poor East End Jewish quarter at a corner of Middlesex Street, long known as “Petticoat Lane,” on the 5th of July 1852, a year to the day before Cecil Rhodes’ birth.
Barney’s brother Harry and sister Kate were raised in a slum area. Their father owned a shop and they had their schooling in the Jews Free School in nearby Bell Lane. Barney’s arithmetic was exceptionally good, and he left school soon after the age of 13.
Their father was essentially a practical, pious individual who closed his shop on the Sabbath, but frequently during the week, he rigged up a ring in his backyard where he taught his sons the rudiments of boxing.
Barney’s great asset was his winning manner and his cheerfulness, flavoured with typical Jewish Cockney wit. He always confessed to an ambition to become a dramatic actor. His physique was small in stature but astonishingly strong. He loved visiting the Music Halls, but preferred the melodrama, never missing the chance of seeing his idol Henry Irving.
Henry Irving (Wikipedia)
One evening in 1871, their cousin David Harris, later to become famous as Sir David Harris, walked into the Isaac household announcing that he was going to South Africa to seek his fortune in the diamond discovery at Kimberley. He promised to report progress.
In 1872, diamonds were discovered in Kimberley; cousin Harris wrote home enthusiastically about the fortunes to be made. Barney grew restless and scraped together sufficient passage money in 1873, with his brother-in-law Joel contributing a silver chain. Having learned that luxury items were in short supply in Kimberley, he persuaded Barney to take 40 boxes of cigars to sell on a fifty-fifty basis. His brother Harry preceded him, and he left on his 21st birthday. After a short stay in Cape Town, he paid £5 for an ox-wagon to take him to the Diamond Fields, a journey of 600 miles, which took two months.
Early New Rush Kimberley (Henri Gros)
At that period, Stock Exchanges had recovered and diamond prices were rising, but Barnato did not know a diamond from a glasseye, as David Harris bluntly informed him when Barney offered his services. He resorted to selling cigars, clowning and juggling, and he also became a booth boxer with a traveling Circus.
Barney teamed up with Louis Cohen of Liverpool; together they set up a trestle table complete with scales, pliers, and a magnifying glass—the bare essentials for diamond trading.
They lived in the most primitive conditions, powdered daily with red dust from head to foot, with Barney making his daily rounds of “Kopje Walloping,” the purchasing of the rough stones from the sorting tables of the diamond miners.
Thus began the Barnato Empire; the Barnato brothers joined forces, making a steady fortune dealing, working claims, and employing experts. Barney, however, continued to support the local Dramatic Society, where he met an attractive young actress, Fanny Bees, whom he married in 1877.
Cecil Rhodes at this period was by no means idle in Kimberley, also amassing a fortune. Rhodes and Barnato soon became keen competitors until the famous De Beers Corporation was formed, with each appointed Life Governors.
Kimberley Mining Activity (Gray Brothers)
With news of a Gold Rush on the Rand, Barnato visited Johannesburg in 1888, involving himself in many large financial and property deals.
Barnato’s fortune varied with the times. He became a legend in Johannesburg as the founder of the J.C.I. and the Barnato Bank. He always remained cheerful, but with the collapse of his bank, he revealed certain personality changes, developing a marked fear of losing his money with bankruptcy and disgrace. He gradually became more social with harder drinking.
There was really no justification for this because De Beers continued to flourish and the whole outlook of the Rand Mining had improved. His doctors advised Barney to go on a sea trip to England. He sailed with his wife and nephew Solly Joel on the crack mail steamer “The Scott.” During the course of the trip, however, he became morose, showing signs of immense concern about the Stock Market and his “enemies” in London.
On Sunday, 13th June 1897, Barney Barnato suddenly fell overboard. Efforts by a Ships Officer, W.T. Clifford, who dived in after him, failed to save him, but with difficulty, he helped to retrieve his body, which was eventually buried in the Jewish Willesden Cemetery in London.
About the author: Dr. Oscar Norwich was a medical doctor and passionate collector who focused on African maps and Johannesburg history. As founder of the Johannesburg Historical Foundation, he led city tours and tirelessly sought rare historical items related to Johannesburg. In 1986, he published a large folio-sized book of his Johannesburg postcard collection to commemorate the city's centenary. Norwich also authored several books on African and Southern African maps. His significant map collection was eventually acquired by Stanford University in the USA, though it remains accessible to scholars online.
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