John Oakley Maund

Sir John Oakley Maund (26 May 1846 – 10 June 1902)[1][2] was an English banker, stockbroker,[3] entrepreneur, hunter and mountaineer during the silver age of alpinism.

[9] From 3 to 5 August 1874, Maund made the third attempt to ascend the main summit of the Meije (Massif des Ecrins in the Dauphiné Alps) via the north ridge with guides Jean Martin and Johann Jaun.

In an article in the Alpine Journal Maund wrote: ... we heard a roar far above and on looking up saw two enormous rocks coming with great bounds straight for us.

[9]In 1881, on 31 July, he attempted the Mittellegigrat (north-east ridge) of the Eiger, with J. Baumann, Johann Jaun, Andreas Maurer and Emile Rey.

Several sources indicate that Maund played an entrepreneurial role in the turbulent period of the British development of the southern part of Africa in the area that later became Rhodesia (Zimbabwe):[20] In June 1889, about five months before the founding of the British South Africa Company, the "Exploring Company Limited" was registered in London, holding a quarter of the shares of the Rudd-Rhodes Concession.

The press transcript[22] shows that the company was working for the development of the mining industry in South Africa and for the rapid northwards extension of the Bechuanaland railway.

The architect was William Morris, the English painter, poet, artisan, engineer and printer, who had built two similar-looking houses for Maund in 1888 in the Anglo-Scottish cottage style in Weggis on Lake Lucerne in Switzerland.