Hermann de Stern, Baron de Stern (1815–1887) was a German-born British banker and senior partner of the firm of Stern Brothers.

Early life and career

Stern was born in 1815 in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Grand Duchy of Frankfurt The Grand Duchy of Frankfurt was a German satellite state of Napoleonic creation. It came into existence in 1810 through the combination of the former territories of the Archbishopric of Mainz along with the Free City of Frankfurt itself. Histo ...

, to the prominent Stern banking family. He moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1844 to join his brother

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

. Together, they co-founded Stern Brothers, a financial institution based in London. According to ''

The Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

'', "Baron de Stern was principally connected with Portuguese finance, but he was prominently concerned also in floating the Danubian 7-per-cent loan of 1864, the Spanish mortgage loan, and the Italian tobacco-monopoly loan." Stern served on the board of directors of the Imperial Bank, the Bank of Rumania, the London and San Francisco Bank, and the East London Waterworks Company. He also served on the board of directors of the London Banking Association. In 1869, Stern received the Portuguese noble title of ''barão'' (

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

) from King

Luís I of Portugal Dom (title), ''Dom'' Luís I (; 31 October 1838 – 19 October 1889), known as "the Popular" (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''o Popular'') was King of Portugal from 1861 to 1889. Luís was a member of the ruling House of Braganza. The second ...

Personal life

Stern married Julia Goldsmid, daughter of Aaron Asher Goldsmid, brother of Sir

Isaac Goldsmid Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid, 1st Baronet (13 January 1778 – 27 April 1859) was a financier and one of the leading figures in the Jewish emancipation in the United Kingdom, who became the first British Jew to receive a hereditary title. Biography ...

. Their son was

Herbert Stern, 1st Baron Michelham Herbert Stern, 1st Baron Michelham (28 September 1851 – 7 January 1919), known as Sir Herbert Stern, Bt, between July and December 1905, was a British financier, philanthropist and a member of the Stern banking family. Background Stern was t ...

. From 1883 to 1887, Stern was the owner of

Strawberry Hill House Strawberry Hill House—often called simply Strawberry Hill—is a Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival villa that was built in Twickenham, London, by Horace Walpole (1717–1797) from 1749 onward. It is a typical example of the "#Strawb ...

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

, but he never lived there. He was associated with the

Anglo-Jewish Association The Anglo-Jewish Association (AJA) is a British organisation. It was formed in 1871 for the 'promotion of social, moral, and intellectual progress among the Jews; and the obtaining of protection for those who may suffer in consequence of being Je ...

and the Jews' Free School. Stern died in London on 20 October 1887 and was buried at

Balls Pond Road Cemetery Balls Pond Road Cemetery, also known as Jewish (West London Reform) Cemetery, Kingsbury Road Cemetery, Balls Pond Burial Ground and The Jewish Burial Ground, is a Jewish cemetery on Kingsbury Road, Canonbury, London N postcode area, N1. It was ...

. One of the wealthiest British men of his time, he left an estate of £3,544,978 (equivalent to £ billion in ).

References

1815 births 1887 deaths 19th-century English businesspeople 19th-century British Jews 19th-century German Jews Portuguese barons Burials at Balls Pond Road Cemetery Businesspeople from Frankfurt English bankers German bankers German emigrants to the United Kingdom Stern family (banking) {{London-stub