Hermann Albert Gerny
Hermann Albert Gerny (1878-1922) of Elder, Smith and Co
1922 Obituary [1]
HERMANN ALBERT GERRY died in a private hospital in Adelaide, Australia, on June 8. 1922, as a result of an attack of typhoid fever, having arrived in Australia from London only a few weeks earlier on a business trip.
He was born in South Australia on April 5, 1878, and was the eldest son of the late Dr. Albert Gerny, formerly of Redhill. He received much of his education at St. Peter's College, Adelaide, terminating in a brilliant scholastic career in 1894.
He then entered the service of Elder, Smith & Company, Limited, and, having become head of the department controlling the metal interests of the firm, he went to Melbourne in 1912 to open up a new business for Elder, Smith and Co., and controlled the whole of their metal interests.
With the advent of the war and the consequent disturbance of the metal business, Mr. Gerny came to London in 1914 to supervise and control the metal interests of the firm. He was able to render special services to the Empire, owing to his singular command of the intricacies of the metal business, and was despatched on missions of special urgency to the Continent for the British Government during the war.
At the close of the war Mr. Gerny's post was that of assistant general manager of Elder, Smith & Co., resident in London. In addition to his business activities, Mr. Gerny's help was sought by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of London in the inauguration of a Commerce Degree in the School of Economics of that University, and at the Inauguration Ceremony he was presented to the King and Queen as one of the Committee specially responsible for this work.
Mr. Gerny was actively associated with Church work in Adelaide, and was an organist and musician of no mean calibre. He was elected a member of the Institute on May 2, 1918, and was always zealous in his endeavours to increase its usefulness and membership. He had intended, on the visit to Australia that was so tragically terminated, to make a special effort to interest Australians in the work of the Institute.