Bernhardt Holtermann
| Bernhardt Otto Holtermann | |
|---|---|
 Holtermann and the gold specimen from Hill End | |
| Born |
29 April 1838 Hamburg, Germany |
| Died |
29 April 1885 (aged 47) St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia |
| Resting place | St Thomas's Cemetery |
| Residence | Germany and New South Wales |
| Occupation | gold miner, businessman, and politician |
| Spouse(s) | Harriet Emmett |
| Children | (unnamed male) Holterman (1869–), Harriet Esther Holtermann (1873–1901), Bernard Edward Henry John Holtermann (1875–1875), Burlington Otto Holtermann (1876–1897), Sydney Hermann O. Holtermann (1879–1956), St Leonard Leichardt Ratchford Holterman (1882–1950) |
| Relatives | Hugo Louis Beyers (husband of sister-in-law and business partner) |
Bernhardt Otto Holtermann (29 April 1838 – 29 April 1885[1][2]) was a successful gold miner, businessman, and politician in Australia. Perhaps his greatest claim to fame is his association with the Holtermann Nugget, the largest gold specimen ever found, 1.5 meters (59 inches) long, weighing 286 kg (630 pounds), in Hill End, near Bathurst,[1] and with an estimated gold content of 5000 ounces (57 kg).[3] A larger find was made by the same men, but was broken up soon after being brought to the surface without being photographed.
Early life
Holtermann was born in Hamburg, Germany. He emigrated in 1858 to avoid Prussian military service.[1][4] He departed Liverpool aboard the ship Salem and reached Melbourne in August after a journey lasting 101 days.[5] After working at a variety of jobs, he teamed up with Ludwig Hugo 'Louis' Beyers. They began prospecting around Hill End, New South Wales. Years of unrewarding labour followed. On 22 February 1868, Holtermann married Harriett Emmett, while Beyers married her sister Mary.
Career
In 1871, the Star of Hope Gold Mining Company, in which he and Beyers were among the partners, struck rich veins of gold. Then, on 19 October 1872, the Holtermann Nugget was discovered. It was not strictly speaking a nugget, but rather a specimen or matrix (a vein of gold embedded in rock, in this case quartz),[3] nor was Holtermann the sole finder, but the name stuck. Holtermann attempted to buy the specimen from the company, offering ₤1000 over its estimated value (₤10,000, according to one source[6]) but was turned down, and it was sent away to have the gold extracted.[5] Disheartened, he resigned from the company in February 1873.[5]
He built a magnificent mansion in St Leonards, a suburb of Sydney, complete with a stained glass window depicting himself and the specimen. He invested wisely and kept his wealth, allowing him to take up his true passion, photography.[7]
Holtermann was also interested in patent medicine. He was proud of having cured fellow passengers on his 1858 sea voyage to Australia.[8] After he retired from mining, he wrote papers and devised formulae for medicines, and promoted and sold "Holtermann's Life Preserving Drops".[2][8]
In 1882, on his third try, Holtermann was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for St Leonards.
He died in Sydney, Australia on his birthday, 29 April 1885, of "cancer of the stomach, cirrhosis of the liver and dropsy",[8] leaving a wife, three sons, and two daughters.[1]
Photography
Holtermann financed and possibly participated in Beaufoy Merlin's project to photograph New South Wales and exhibit the results abroad to encourage immigration. The work was taken up after Merlin's death in 1873 by his assistant, Charles Bayliss. In 1875, Holtermann and Bayliss produced the Holtermann panorama, a series of "23 albumen silver photographs which join together to form a continuous 978-centimetre view of Sydney Harbour and its suburbs."[9] Some of the photographs, including the panorama, were displayed at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, where they won a bronze medal.[9] The panorama was also displayed at the 1878 Exposition Universelle Internationale in Paris.[9]
Almost seventy years after Holtermann's death, more than 3,000 of the glass negatives created by Merlin and Bayliss were retrieved from a garden shed in the Sydney suburb of Chatswood. The UNESCO-listed collection of negatives, known as The Holtermann Collection, is housed in the State Library of New South Wales.
References
- 1 2 3 4 Burke, Keast (1972). "Holtermann, Bernhardt Otto (1838–1885)". Australian Dictionary of Biography 4. Canberra: Australian National University. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
- 1 2 "Holtermann, Bernhardt Otto (1838 - 1885)". Encyclopedia of Australian Science. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
- 1 2 "Famous Gold Nuggets / "The Beyers and Holtermann Nugget"". the-metal-detective.com. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
- ↑ "Bernhardt Otto Holtermann". Goethe-Institut Australien. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
- 1 2 3 Carl Fredrik Holtermann (Summer 2008). "The Holtermann Gold". Cabinet Magazine. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
- ↑ "You are in: Hill End". AboutNSW (about.nsw.gov.au). Retrieved 2 June 2012.
- ↑ "Famous Germans in Sydney". Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
- 1 2 3 "Hill End Dispensary, 1872". State Library of New South Wales. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
- 1 2 3 "Holtermann panorama" (PDF). National Gallery of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
External links
- The Holtermann Collection Story at the State Library of New South Wales
- The Holtermann Collection of glass plate negatives at the State Library of New South Wales
- The Greatest Wonder of the World (Exhibition), (23 Feb 2013 – 12 May 2013), State Library of New South Wales
| Parliament of New South Wales | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James Farnell |
Member for St Leonards 1882–1885 With: Dibbs |
Succeeded by Isaac Ives |