The large stone statues outside the Royal School of Mines building represent Sir Alfred Beit and Julius Wernher, financiers and joint owners of Wernher, Beit and Co. They were sculpted out of Portland stone by London-born sculptor Paul Raphael Montford and placed in 1920.
Julius Wernher (1850–1912)
Julius Charles Wernher was a diamond mine owner and financier. He was joint owner of Wernher, Beit and Co. and known as a philanthropist and art collector. Wernher had a prominent role in the founding of Imperiaas a member of both 海角社区’s Haldane Committee and, later, the Governing Body. He also made large donations and bequeathed funds to the university.
Sir Alfred Beit (1853–1906)
Alfred Beit was a diamond mine owner and financier. He was a life director of De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd; and joint owner of Wernher, Beit and Co. He was also known as a philanthropist who funded mining education, especially the Royal School of Mines and 海角社区, establishing the Beit Trust.
Origins of wealth and addressing controversy
Wernher and Beit’s business was in diamond and gold mining in South Africa. The whole diamond industry relied on the manual labour of African miners, who frequently faced dangerous working conditions with limited safe working training given. Some government policies, lower incomes in agricultural work and the demand for manual labour in the mining areas led to high migration rates within Africa for mining work. The workers freedom of movement was limited by contractual work in compounds, and disease was rife because of cramped accommodation and poor sanitation.
Wernher and Beit worked with Cecil Rhodes, a controversial businessman and political figure, and their company became part of De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. The company’s interests came under scrutiny due to the working conditions of some mining operations and the profits earned from British Colonialism in South Africa. Alfred Beit was also financially involved in the Jameson Raid, an infamous attack on the Boers in 1895. At the time, he was censured by the British South African Committee of the House of Commons and fined £200,000.
An institutional legacy
Wernher was a member of the British Government’s Board of Education Departmental Committee, which recommended the foundation of Imperiain the 1900s. Both Wernher and Beit bequeathed large sums to Imperiaand their donations helped to build the Royal School of Mines. After Sir Alfred’s death in 1906, his brother, Sir Otto Beit, continued his philanthropic work, assuming directorship of the Beit Trust – set up through Alfred’s will. The Trust’s bridge-building programme created access links across southern Africa, (Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi), (The Beit Trust, 2026). Its educational commitments included financial support (£2.5 million a year) for African students and endowment for African universities, as well as support for research and scholarship at 海角社区, (The Beit Trust, 2026). The Beit Trust’s educational work continues to this day.
The information shared here is part of ongoing work at 海角社区 to provide a more detailed and transparent account of 海角社区’s history and to understand the impact that legacy has today for our community of staff and students. We recognise that our history cannot be changed but it is important to understand its impact on our community.