Background
Bernard Holtermann was born on April 29, 1838 in Hamburg, Germany.
1880
(Bernard Holtermann financed and possibly participated in ...)
Bernard 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."
Businessman politician gold miner
Bernard Holtermann was born on April 29, 1838 in Hamburg, Germany.
After working at a variety of jobs, Bernard Holtermann teamed up with Ludwig Hugo 'Louis' Beyers. They began prospecting around Hill End, New South Wales. Years of unrewarding labour followed. In 1871, the Star of Hope Gold Mining Company, in which Bernard Holtermann and Beyers were among the partners, struck rich veins of gold. On 19 October 1872, the Holtermann Nugget was discovered. It was a gold specimen, a mass of gold embedded in rock, in this case quartz. Bernard Holtermann attempted to buy the 3,000 troy ounces (93 kilograms) specimen from the company, offering £1000 over its estimated value of £12,000, but was turned down, and it was sent away to have the gold extracted. Disheartened, he resigned from the company in February 1873.
When the Hill End Borough Council was constituted on 6 August 1873, Bernard Holtermann was elected as an Alderman of the first council. In October 1874, he was elected an Alderman in a special election for the Belmore Ward of the Borough of St Leonards.
Bernard Holtermann built a large mansion, "The Towers" in North Sydney, complete with a stained glass window depicting himself and the specimen. Located at a panoramic location near Blue and William streets, he resided there until his death in 1885. He invested wisely and kept his wealth, allowing him to take up his true passion of photography.
Bernard Holtermann was also interested in patent medicine. He was proud of having cured fellow passengers on his 1858 sea voyage to Australia. After he retired from mining, he wrote papers and devised formulae for medicines, and promoted and sold "Holtermann's Life Preserving Drops".
In 1882, on his third try, Bernard Holtermann was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for St Leonards, which he served until his death.
Bernard Holtermann died in Sydney, Australia on his birthday, 29 April 1885, of "cancer of the stomach, cirrhosis of the liver and dropsy", leaving a wife, three sons, and two daughters.
Quotes from others about the person
Andrew Hooper of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology has written: "He may be remembered as a visionary in the development of photography in Australia (perhaps the world). He liked the art of photography for its own sake, yet realized its great 'documentary possibilities."
On 22 February 1868, Bernard Holtermann married Harriett Emmett, while Beyers married her sister Mary.