Jeremy Holmes gave us a fascinating talk about Andrew Carnegie who rose from abject poverty in Dunfermline to be the richest man in the world 100 years ago. Starting with running errands for the sailors on the passage to America and found himself a job as a bobbin boy on arrival in Pittsburgh.
His Mother was the real driving force in the family, she was very keen on education and sent her sons to the local library on Saturday afternoons. to educate themselves.
Andrew moved to working in a Telegraph office, doubling his wages, and eventually took over running the office. He was asked to go and work for the railway company and was encouraged to take out a loan and invest in a sleeping car which became Pullman. Within two years the returns were delivering five times his salary. Further investments in oil and iron bridges and business alliances with Frick, a coke supplier, and Rockerfeller, an iron ore supplier, followed. These led to Carnegie being a millionaire by the time he was 35.
He believed in giving people a ‘hand up rather than a hand out’ and was seen as tough employer. He worked out that he never needed to earn more than $50,000 a year and would give the rest to charity. He established the first Carnegie library in his home town of Dunfermline and went on to build and stock 1,800 libraries around the world aimed at helping the poorest in society. He also built Carnegie Hall with Tchaikovsky himself conducted the opening concert.
Carnegie gave away 90% of his fortune to charity. The trusts he established continue to benefit people and humanity, providing grants for university places and supporting endeavours such as Sesame Street, the Hubble Space Telescope, the development of Insulin and the Hague Peace Palace.