Ernest Cassel

Cassel was born in Cologne, in what is now Germany, the son of Amalia (née Rosenheim) and Jacob Cassel. His family were Ashkenazi Jews. His father owned a small bank, but the son Ernest arrived penniless in Liverpool, England in 1869. There he found employment with a firm of grain merchants. With an enormous capacity for hard work and a natural business sense, Cassel was soon in Paris working for a bank. Being of Prussian origin, the Franco-Prussian War forced him to move to a position in a London bank. He prospered and was soon putting together his own financial deals. His areas of interest were in mining, infrastructure and heavy industry. Turkey was an early area of business ventures, but he soon had large interests in Sweden, the United States, South America, South Africa, and Egypt. He was among the financiers of the Aswan Dam built in Egypt between 1899 and 1902, and was present in Egypt for the opening of the dam in December 1902.[3]

One of the wealthiest men of his day, Cassel was a good friend of King Edward VII, prime minister H. H. Asquith and Winston Churchill.

Villa Cassel at Riederalp, Switzerland

Cassels donation in Grängesberg, Sweden.

Cassel retired from business in 1910. His philanthropic benefactions included £500,000 for educational purposes, £225,000 for a hospital for nervous diseases, £50,000 to King Edward's Hospital Fund in memory of his only child. He built and endowed an Anglo-German Institute in 1911 in memory of King Edward VII.[4] He owned a castle in Switzerland, Riederfurka, which could only be safely accessed on a mule. When the inhabitants of the town nearby said they were going to make a better road to his property, he answered: "If you do, I'm not coming here anymore." Economist Felix Somary, who tells this anecdote in his autobiography, visited him there in 1914 to persuade him that war was inevitable.

During World War I, Cassel made large financial gifts to the British Red Cross and other war time charitable entities working to ameliorate privation being suffered by British military casualties.[5]

Cassel had a famous art collection and many beautiful houses. He bred racehorses and owned Moulton Paddocks in Newmarket.

Cassel was married at Westminster, in 1878, to Annette Mary Maud Maxwell.[6] Their only child, Amalia Mary Maud Cassel (1880–1911), married Wilfrid Ashley, 1st Baron Mount Temple.

After the early death of his wife Annette in 1881, he and his widowed sister Wilhelmina (known as Bobbie) helped each other bring up his daughter (Maude) and Wilhelmina's son (Felix) and daughter (Anna).[7]

Maude died as a young woman, leaving him two granddaughters (Edwina and Mary) on whom he doted. He was particularly attached to Edwina, who looked after him in his old age. She later married Lord Louis Mountbatten.

Cassel's nephew was the barrister Sir Felix Cassel, who later became Judge Advocate-General to the Forces.

Cassel became a Roman Catholic at the behest of his wife, but many still considered him a Jew. The establishment was surprised to find out that he had converted when he chose to be sworn into the Privy Council with the Douay–Rheims Bible.[8]

Cassel caricatured by Spy for Vanity Fair, 1899

Cassel's friendship with the King and achievements in international finance earned him many British and foreign honours. Contemporary society gossip suggested that he demanded these as a return for his services.[8] In 1899, he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG).[9] In 1901, he was made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO).[10]

He was sworn a member of the Privy Council on 11 August 1902,[11] following an announcement of the King's intention to make this appointment in the 1902 Coronation Honours list published in June that year.[12] In 1905, he was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) [13] and, in 1906, he was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO).[14] In the 1909 Birthday Honours, he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB).[15]

Awards received in thanks for services to foreign governments included Commander, first class, of the Royal Order of Vasa in 1900 from Sweden,[16] the Grand Cordon of the Imperial Ottoman Order of Osmanieh in 1903,[17] Commander of the Légion d'honneur in 1906 from France, the Order of the Crown, first class, in 1908 from Prussia, the Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star in 1909 from Sweden, the Order of the Rising Sun, first class, in 1911 from Japan and the Order of the Red Eagle, first class with brilliants in 1913 from Prussia.[8]

Funerary monument, Kensal Green Cemetery, London

In 1919, Cassel founded and endowed the Cassel Hospital, originally at Swaylands near Penshurst, and now at No. 1 Ham Common, Ham, near Richmond, London. The hospital is a therapeutic community for the mentally ill, providing residential, day and outreach services, part of the NHS.

Cassel died at Brook House, Park Lane, London. His body was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery in front of All Souls' Chapel (Anglican).

Cassel's estate had a probate value of £6,000,000 (equivalent to £268 million today).[8][18].

• National Bank of Egypt
• National Bank of Turkey

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ernest Cassel.

• Sir Ernest Cassel Educational Trust
• Biography at Pro Natura Center Aletsch, Villa Cassel, CH-3987 Riederalp
• Newspaper clippings about Ernest Cassel in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW