Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

KIMBERLEY

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 799 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

KIMBERLEY , a See also:

town of the Cape See also:province, See also:South See also:Africa, the centre of the Griqualand See also:West See also:diamond See also:industry, 647 M. N.E. of Cape Town and 310 m. S.W. of See also:Johannesburg by See also:rail. Pop. (1904), 34,331, of whom 13,556 were whites. The town is built on the See also:bare veld midway between the Modder and See also:Vaal See also:Rivers and is 4012 ft. above the See also:sea. Having grown out of camps formed See also:round the diamond mines, its See also:plan is very irregular and in striking contrast with the rectangular outline See also:common to South See also:African towns. Grouped round See also:market square are the See also:law courts, with a See also:fine, See also:clock See also:tower, the See also:post and See also:telegraph offices and the town-See also:hall. The public library and the See also:hospital are in Du Toits See also:Pan Road. In the See also:district of See also:Newton, laid out during the See also:siege of 1899-1900, a See also:monument to those who See also:fell during the operations has been erected where four roads meet. Siege See also:Avenue, in.the suburb of See also:Kenilworth, 250 ft. wide, a mile and a See also:quarter See also:long, and planted with 16 rows of trees, was also laid out during the siege. In the public gardens are statues of See also:Queen See also:Victoria and See also:Cecil See also:Rhodes.

The diamond mines See also:

form, however, the See also:chief attraction of the town (see DIAMOND). Of these the Kimberley is within a few minutes' walk of market square. The De Beers mine is one mile See also:east of the Kimberley mine. The other See also:principal mines, Bultfontein, Du Toits Pan and Wesselton, are still farther distant from the town. Barbed See also:wire See also:fencing surrounds the mines, which See also:cover about 18o acres. The See also:Kaffirs who See also:work in the mines are housed in large compounds. Wire netting is spread over these enclosures, and every precaution taken to prevent the illicit disposal of diamonds. Ample See also:provision is made for the comfort of the inmates, who in addition to See also:food and lodging See also:earn from 17s. to 24s. a See also:week: Most of the See also:white workmen employed live at Kenilworth, laid out by the De Beers See also:company as a " See also:model See also:village." Beacons-See also:field, near Du Toits Pan Mine, is also dependent on the diamond industry. Kimberley was founded in 187o by diggers who discovered diamonds on the farms of Du Toits Pan and Bultfontein. In 1871 richer diamonds were found on the neighbouring See also:farm of Vooruitzight at places named De Beers and Colesberg Kopje. There were at first three distinct See also:mining camps, one at Du Toits Pan, another at De Beers (called De Beers See also:Rush or Old De Beers) and the third at the Colesberg Kopje (called De Beers New Rush, or New Rush simply). The Colesberg Kopje mine was in See also:July 1873 renamed Kimberley in See also:honour of the then secretary of See also:state for the colonies, the 1st See also:earl of Kimberley, by whose direction the mines were—in 1871—taken under the See also:protection of See also:Great See also:Britain.

Kimberley was also chosen as the name of the town into which the mining camps See also:

developed. Doubt having arisen as to the rights of the See also:crown to the minerals on Vooruitzight farm, litigation ensued, ending in the See also:purchase of the farm by the state for £1oo,000 in 1875. In 188o the town was incorporated in Cape See also:Colony (see GRIQUALAND). In 1874 a great See also:part of the See also:population See also:left for the newly discovered See also:gold diggings in the See also:Lydenburg district of the See also:Transvaal, but others took their See also:place. Among those See also:early attracted to Kimberley were Cecil Rhodes and " Barney " Barnato, who in See also:time came to represent two See also:groups of financiers controlling the mines. The amalgamation of their interests in 1889—when the De Beers See also:group See also:purchased the Kimberley mine for £5,338,650—put the whole diamond See also:production of the Kimberley See also:fields in the hands of one company, the De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd., so named after the former owners of the farms on which are situated the chief mines. Kimberley in consequence became largely dependent on the See also:good-will of the De Beers See also:corporation, the town having practically no See also:industries other than diamond mining. See also:Horse-breeding is carried on to a limited extent. The value of the See also:annual output of diamonds averages about £4,500,000. The importance of the industry led to the See also:building of a railway from Cape Town, opened in 1885. On the outbreak of See also:war between the See also:British and the Boers in 1899 Kimberley was invested by a See also:Boer force. The siege began on the 12th of See also:October and lasted until the 15th of See also:February 1900, when the town was relieved by See also:General See also:Sir See also:John See also:French.

Among the besieged was Cecil Rhodes, who placed the resources of the De Beers company at the disposal of the defenders. In 1906 the town was put in See also:

direct railway communication with Johannesburg, and in 1908 the completion of the See also:line from See also:Bloemfontein gave See also:Natal direct See also:access to Kimberley, which thus became an important railway centre.

End of Article: KIMBERLEY

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
KILWINNING 		[next]
KIMBERLEY, JOHN WODEHOUSE, 1ST EARL OF (1826-1902)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries