Sir George Albu was a celebrated Mining magnate of German-Jewish descent who was born in Brandenburg, Germany in 1857 and together with his brother Leopold immigrated to South Africa in 1876.
After working in Cape Town in a department store for some time, he and his brother moved to the diamond fields in Kimberley. Whilst there they built themselves up financially and eventually sold out their interests to De Beers and achieved a sizeable profit. They then moved to the Witwatersrand.
In 1887 after becoming a naturalized citizen of the Transvaal, George Albu bought the Meyer and Charlton gold mine which was below par at the time and reorganized it. Later it became one of the richest properties on the Rand. and in 1895 the two brothers then established General Mining and Finance Company mainly financed by the Dresdner Bank in Germany. In 1911 George Albu became a naturalized British Citizen and in 1912 he was made a Baron with the title of “1st Baronet Albu of Johannesburg”. At that time he bought the mansion “Northwards” designed by Sir Herbert Baker in Parktown, a suburb of Johannesburg.
In 1913 George Albu held the office of Danish General Consul to Johannesburg and decorated with the Order of the Dannebrog. He died in 1935 and his title and his position at General Mining passed to his son Sir George Werner Albu, 2nd Baronet.