People/magnate, politician

Cecil Rhodes

Cecil Rhodes (1853–1902), magnate, politician, financier, from United Kingdom. Linked to diamonds, gold.

The lucky break

Went to the Kimberley diamond fields to supervise his brother's claim, then with Charles Rudd bought the old De Beers claims, which gave the company its name.1

The downfall

His support of the Jameson Raid forced him to resign as Cape Prime Minister in January 1896. His health failed during the siege of Kimberley.1

Legacy

Formed De Beers Consolidated in 1888 and the British South Africa Company. His will funded the Rhodes scholarships. His colonial legacy remains contested.1

Story cards

Timeline

  1. 1888De Beers Consolidated Mines founded2
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Where next

People

Rival ofBarney BarnatoBarnato sold out to Rhodes in 1888 for a price said to be over five million pounds.1,3Financed byAlfred BeitHe lent Rhodes 250,000 pounds with no security to finish the De Beers merger.4Partner ofLeander Starr JamesonThe raid that failed in a week cost Rhodes his premiership.1,5Partner ofCharles RuddRhodes's business partner and the signer of the Rudd Concession.6Rival ofLobengulaThe king whose mark on a paper opened Rhodesia to Rhodes.6InspiredErnest OppenheimerOppenheimer copied Rhodes's trick of controlling the diamond supply.7

Mines

OwnedKimberley Big HoleHe built De Beers on the old claims under the Big Hole.1

Events

FoundedDe Beers Consolidated Mines foundedCecil Rhodes is part of this story: De Beers Consolidated Mines founded.2

Sources

  1. Cecil John Rhodes South African History Online
  2. De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. is founded (13 March 1888) South African History Online
  3. Barney Barnato South African History Online
  4. Beit, Alfred Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement (public-domain text on Wikisource), article by C. W. Boyd
  5. Dr. Leander Starr Jameson South African History Online
  6. The Rudd Concession (1888) Wikisource (public domain source text)
  7. Sir Ernest Oppenheimer South African History Online

Pictures on this page: Barney Barnato00.jpg, Unknown author (Public domain); Alfred Beit00.jpg, Giovanni Boldini (Public domain); SirLeanderStarrJameson.jpg, Ball (Public domain); Charles Rudd.jpeg, Unknown (according to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography) (Public domain); Lobengula-image.jpg, The original uploader was Humansdorpie at English Wikipedia. (Public domain).

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0; Underground mining equipment by Kaupo Kikkas, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Pangkalpinang. Mijn 3b. Een reeks koelies bezig met het transporteeren van grond, Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Kimberley, South Africa: miners and washing gear at the Bultfontein diamond mine. Woodburytype, 1888, after a photograph by Robert Harris., Harris, Robert, active 1881-1888. (Public Domain Mark 1.0).