Friday 27th September 1895

Born on this day, (Joel) Woolf Barnato, British financier and racing driver, one of the “Bentley Boys” of the 1920s. He achieved three consecutive wins out of three entries in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. He was the son of Barney Barnato, a diamond magnate and associate of Cecil Rhodes who had made a fortune in the Kimberley mines. He inherited a multi-million pound fortune at the age of two. He was educated at Charterhouse School and Trinity College, Cambridge and served as an officer in the Royal Field Artillery, British Army in World War I.