Baron Spilsbury aka BS

Baron Spilsbury aka BS

The ‘Baron’ arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1879 with a modest amount of money made in a modestly successful wholesale business in Wolverhampton, England, which he created, ran and then sold. He arrived in California with no clear plan but with his beloved wife, determined to enjoy the Bay Area climate and to make a lot of money.

He used his fabricated title to gain entry to San Francisco Society and cast around for inspiration. He had been a keen and skilled hunter in England and his hunting expertise helped him to expand his social connections.

It was during a week of hunting in Sonoma that inspiration came. While admiring the magnificent vista from Mount St Helena, a fellow hunter remarked that it was a shame that gold had not been discovered closer to San Francisco, which provoked the thought that would make BS wealthy, very wealthy!

“Perhaps prospectors were so busy rushing of the Sierra foothills and beyond, that they never investigated the Bay Area thoroughly”

And as they say - “the rest is history” - at least for the now very wealthy BS!