Portrait of Leander Starr Jameson

People/politician

Leander Starr Jameson

Leander Starr Jameson, politician, from United Kingdom. Linked to diamonds, gold.

The lucky break

A London doctor who settled in Kimberley in 1878 after his health broke down; his patients included Paul Kruger and the Matabele king Lobengula.1,2

The downfall

His Jameson Raid in December 1895 reached Doornkop, about 20 km from Johannesburg, and he surrendered on 2 January 1896. He was sentenced to 15 months and served four.1,2

Legacy

He took responsibility for the raid and did not implicate Rhodes, though the failure forced Rhodes to resign. He later became Prime Minister of the Cape Colony.1,2

Story cards

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Where next

People

Partner ofCecil RhodesThe raid that failed in a week cost Rhodes his premiership.1,3Partner ofAlfred BeitBeit was concerned with Rhodes in placing Jameson on the Transvaal border.4

Mines

Worked atKimberley Big HoleA doctor in Kimberley whose patients included Kruger and Lobengula.1

Sources

  1. Dr. Leander Starr Jameson South African History Online
  2. File pages and licence metadata for portraits (via the Commons imageinfo/extmetadata API) Wikimedia Commons
  3. Cecil John Rhodes South African History Online
  4. Beit, Alfred Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement (public-domain text on Wikisource), article by C. W. Boyd

Pictures on this page: SirLeanderStarrJameson.jpg, Ball (Public domain); Alfred Beit00.jpg, Giovanni Boldini (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).