James Benjamin Taylor (December 1860 – 25 December 1944) was a South African

Randlord Randlords were the capitalists who controlled the diamond and gold mining industries in South Africa in its pioneer phase from the 1870s up to World War I. A small number of European financiers, largely of the same generation, gained control of th ...

. He followed a typical route to great wealth – diamonds in Kimberley, gold in Barberton and Pilgrim's Rest, and ending up on the

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand () (locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

. His ability to speak

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

was instrumental in his rise, and he became a confidant of President

Paul Kruger Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904) was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South African Republic, South Africa, and President of the So ...

of the

Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...

. He acted as intermediary between the Government and the mining industry, and was privy to many of the political machinations leading to the

Jameson Raid The Jameson Raid (29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896) was a botched raid against the South African Republic (commonly known as the Transvaal) carried out by British colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson, under the employment of Cecil ...

and the

Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

Life

He was born the fifth of 8 children of Isaac Rowland Taylor (6 November 1826 Holborn – 22 August 1888 Kimberley) and Jane Dorothea Hellet (7 May 1827 – 27 November 1876). His first formal education was at Dalton School in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

; he was present when in 1867 Prince Alfred, son of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

, called at the Cape aboard the screw frigate on his voyage around the world. Taylor's father and brother moved to Du Toits Pan, later called Kimberley in 1870 when news of the diamond find spread, and the following year the family joined them, travelling from Cape Town on a mule wagon, a journey that took a month. Taylor and his brother Bill spent the next few years labouring with their parents while they worked the claim. It was during this period that he first met

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

, who had contracted to pump water from Baxter's Gully close to the Taylor diggings. The increasing depth of the diggings coupled with the hard blue layers encountered in the

kimberlite Kimberlite is an igneous rock and a rare variant of peridotite. It is most commonly known to be the main host matrix for diamonds. It is named after the town of Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an diamond called the Star of S ...

pipes, discouraged many miners from continuing. This together with the falling price of diamonds, led to extensive selling of the claims to the larger syndicates. This consolidation gave rise to the growth in power and wealth of

, Barnato and

Alfred Beit Alfred Beit (15 February 1853 – 16 July 1906) was a Anglo-German gold and diamond magnate in South Africa, and a major donor and profiteer of infrastructure development on the African continent. He also donated much money to university edu ...

. Jim Taylor's lack of schooling was a cause for concern with his parents, so that in 1873 he was sent to Greytown in

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

to further his education. His uncle Peter Hellet, a sibling of Taylor's mother, lived in Greytown and it was felt that he could offer the necessary substitute for parental care. Taylor was accordingly enrolled at the German mission school at

Hermannsburg Hermannsburg is a village and a former municipality in the Celle district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the municipality Südheide. It has been a state-recognised resort town since 1971. It is situated on the riv ...

. Holidays were spent with his relatives, the Menne family who owned a swathe of land along the Umvoti River. Peter Hellet died in 1874 cutting short Taylor's planned education and forcing his return to Kimberley. The Taylor family ran into financial difficulties, and Jim Taylor found a job as assistant bookkeeper with the firm of E.W. Tarry. In 1878 Taylor accompanied a trader Finnaughty on a trip to

Kuruman Kuruman is a small town with just over 53,000 inhabitants in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is known for its scenic beauty and the Eye of Kuruman, a geological feature that brings water from deep underground. The abundance of water ...

and beyond. On returning to Kimberley he volunteered to join the Kimberley Artillery to subdue two

Griqua Griqua may refer to: * Griqua people * Griqua language or Xiri language * Griquas (rugby) Griquas (known as the Windhoek Draught Griquas for sponsorship reasons since April 2022) are a South African rugby union team that participates in the an ...

chiefs whose followers had been murdering and plundering in the country around the Langeberg Mountains near

Griquatown Griekwastad is a country town in South Africa. It is sometimes still called Griquatown (the meaning of the town's name in Afrikaans), a name which is now considered historical. The town is in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa by road we ...

. This they managed with the help of the Kimberley Light Horse and the Kimberley Infantry. In 1879, having acquired a taste for exploration, Taylor joined Gus Fisher, a retired naval officer, on a journey to Spelonken in the

Northern Transvaal Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

. Piet Buyskes, a noted lawyer of the period, invited Taylor along on a trip to hear the grievances of Gasibone, a chief of the Batlapin or Tlhaping tribe and to relay these grievances to the British government.

on hearing about this, invited Buyskes to hear his own grievances against the Cape government in connection with the annexation of the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

, which he also wanted communicated to London. They met Kruger near

Rustenburg Rustenburg (; , Afrikaans and Dutch: ''City of Rest'') is a city at the foot of the Magaliesberg mountain range. Rustenburg is the most populous city in North West province, South Africa (549,575 in 2011 and 626,522 in the 2016 census). In 20 ...

and Taylor was present when they appointed a committee charged with having the independence of the Transvaal restored. On Taylor's return to Kimberley, he took his first steps in diamond broking by joining

, a partner of Jules Porgès. Alfred Beit was at that time the leading diamond merchant in Kimberley and had established a reputation for being scrupulously fair in all his business dealings. However, he fell under the spell of

's imperial vision, whereas his partner

Julius Wernher Sir Julius Charles Wernher, 1st Baronet (9 April 1850 – 21 May 1912) was a German-born Randlord and art collector who became part of the English establishment. Life history Born in Darmstadt, Hesse, Wernher was the son of Elisabeth (Weidenbu ...

did not. Taylor's brother Bill went to London in 1880 to establish an agency. Jim Taylor followed a year later, visiting his ancestral country for the first time, and taking the opportunity of doing the

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tut ...

. He returned to Kimberley in 1882 to find that a slumping market had financially crippled him.

Family

Taylor was married in

on 10 March 1891 to Mary "Mollie" Gordon (*August 1863 Ballater, Scotland), daughter of a Pietermaritzburg physician. They produced a family of 4 children: #Alfred Gordon Taylor (*1892) Lost a leg in the Great War of 1914/18. In the Second World War, as Major Gordon Taylor, he achieved distinction as one of S Africa's most famous war artists - his paintings are in the SA War Museum - and later was a popular painter of thoroughbred racehorses. #Frances Daphne Taylor (*1895) x Francis Heyberger, French aero engineer. Winner of the Prix de Rome at the Slade and distinguished S African artist, she and Francis escaped wartime France via the Pyrenees and emigrated to America #Lance Taylor (*1901 - 1978) x Catherine Dorothea Sharpe later Mrs Catherine Taylor, Member of Parliament in the S African House of Assembly. Lance qualified as a doctor at St Thomas' Hospital in London during the Blitz, joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and served in the D-Day landings, later travelling to S Africa with his family to settle at the Cape. He was an Honorary Vice President of the Western Province Cricket Club and a distinguished local golfer. #Iris Dorothea Taylor (*1903 – 5 September 1973) x Lt.-Col. Harold Boyd-Rochfort, brother of the Queen's racehorse trainer, Cecil Boyd-Rochefort The Peerage
/ref> Iris became one of Ireland's leading bloodstock breeders and ran the Middleton Stud in Mullingar for many years in partnership with Mrs 'Kicks' Erlanger, wife of Micky Erlanger, the founder of the Piper Aircraft Company, who lived in Monmouth, New Jersey, USA #Johan Pieter Hellet (12 October 1790 Regenswalde, Prussia – 4 December 1840 (Retired captain of a British ship) x 11 March 1821 Maria Cornelia Bandel (12 May 1806 – 2 April 1892) ##Johanna Wilhelmina Gertrude Hellet x 1844 Theodore Menne (1813–1905) (born in Germany, settled near Greytown – was owner of the farms Hannahdale, Menneheim Cedara, which was a way-station for his oxen when working as a transportryer, built Menneheim homestead) ###Maria Wilhelmina Menne *1845 ###Jane Aletta Menne *1847 ###Peter Anton Menne *1849 ###Theodore Menne *1850 ###Wilhelmina Martha (Mina) Menne (1852–1880) ###Johanna Gertrude (Annie) Menne *1854 x James Egner ####Theodore Egner ####Ethel Egner ####Theresa (Trixie) Egner ####Colenso Egner ####Kathleen Egner ####Robert (Jumbo) Egner ####Chieveley Egner ####Irene Egner ####Annie Egner ###Joseph Charles Menne (1855–1931) x Martha Aletta Louisa Mare ####Louisa Martha (Lulu) Menne *1886 x Johan Havemann ####Victor Theodore Menne (1888–1913) ####Juana (Johanna) Menne *1892 x van Rooyen ####Durand Paul Menne *1895 x M Maritz ####Charles Joseph Menne *1897 x E Makkink ####Magdalena Letitia Menne *1903 x Charles Juckes ####Martha Elizabeth Menne *1906 x Jan Vivier ###Anton Ro(w)land Menne *1856 x Ada Browning ####Moran Menne x Dorothy Pringle ####Kinley Menne x Gladys Kelper ####Eula Menne x Ernest Harold Taylor ####Blythe Menne x Helen Wood ####Robus Menne b.1902 x Alexia Oellermann ####Roa Menne x Jock Kenny ####Alme Menne x William (Bill) Rottcher ###Marianna (Minnie) Menne *1858 x Tom Brown ###Francis Charles (Frank) Menne *1859 x Elizabeth Cookley ####Doreen x H Clarke ####Gertrude Menne x Tony Tanzer ####William Menne x Rosemary ####Letitia Menne x Ian Torrance ####Elizabeth Menne x F Donaldson ####Theodore Menne x Louise van Dooren ###Anna Sophya (Bertie) Menne (1864–1912) ###Hendrika Caroline (Dixie) Menne *1866 x Thomas L Handley ####Dora Handley ####Justin Handley ####Sybil Handley ####Iris Handley ###Daniel Brink Menne *1866 x Elizabeth Baker ####Briton Menne x Mary Handley ####Saxon Menne x Olive (Polly) Owen ####Norman Menne x Stella Gunning ####Olive Menne x Chris Carstens ##William Hellet ##Jane Dorothea Hellet (7 May 1827-27 November 1876 x Isaac Rowland Taylor ##Peter Jurgen Ellis Hellet (28 April 1831-13 May 1874) x (21 December 1863 Greytown) Anna Johanna Botha *27 September 1847 Greytown (sister of

Louis Botha Louis Botha (; 27 September 1862 – 27 August 1919) was a South African politician who was the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa – the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war hero during the Second Boer War, ...

) ###Louis Hellet *17 August 1865 ###Maria Hellet *16 June 1867 ###Theodore Hellet *23 November 1869 ###Menne Hellet *24 May 1872 ##Hendrika Hellet x Isaac Rowland Taylor

Sources

Menne family

References

*J. B. Taylor "''Lucky Jim – Memoirs of a Randlord''" (Stonewall Books, Cape Town 2003) {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, James Benjamin Randlords 1860 births 1944 deaths South African mining businesspeople