John Alexander Agnew

John Alexander Agnew (1872 – 2 August 1939) was a New Zealand mining engineer who worked with future United States president Herbert Hoover and later became chairman of Consolidated Gold Fields, the first chairman of the firm to be from a mining engineering background. In his spare time he was a noted philatelist whose collection of Chinese stamps and postal history was regarded as one of the finest of his era.

John Alexander Agnew was born in New Zealand in 1872. He studied under professor James Park at the University of Otago School of Mines.

His son was Dolf Agnew and his grandson was Sir Rudolph Agnew, group chief executive of Consolidated Goldfields plc from 1978 to 1989 and chairman from 1983 to 1989.

Agnew was a board member of the Cementation Company, and asked his son-in-law Abram Rupert Neelands, a Canadian mining engineer to look over the company and report its prospects. The shareholders were impressed with a report produced by Rupert, and asked if he could commit to the company. The offer was accepted on the basis Rupert had 'full charge and complete control', and he took over management of the business in 1921.

Agnew's early career was at the Thames Goldfield in New Zealand where he became the mine manager. In 1898 he moved to Western Australia where he worked for Bewick Moreing & Company under mining engineer and future American president Herbert Hoover. He travelled with Hoover to China but returned to Australia in 1903 when their work was interrupted by the Boxer Rebellion. In 1912 he resigned from Bewick Moreing and travelled to London where Hoover had mining interests.

Based in London, Agnew travelled widely and particularly in north and south America and was involved with Herbert Hoover and Francis Algernon Govett in Lake View and Oroya Exploration Limited, Lake View and Star Limited, Camp Bird Limited, and Santa Gertrudis Limited. After the First World War he was involved with the Burma Corporation Limited among other companies. He became a director of Consolidated Gold Fields in 1922 and chairman in March 1933, succeeding the fourth Lord Brabourne. Agnew was the first mining engineer to hold the position. He held a large number of other company appointments as director or chairman and it was thought by some that in some cases his appointments and shareholdings were on behalf of Herbert Hoover who had resigned his company appointments after 1919.

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