Colonel John Dale Lace (27 November 1859 – 5 June 1937) was a South African gold and diamond mining magnate and

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 was born in

Port St Mary Port St Mary ( gv, Purt le Moirrey or ''Purt-noo-Moirrey'') is a village district in the south-west of the Isle of Man. The village takes its name from the former Chapel of St Mary ( gv, Keeill Moirrey) which is thought to have overlooked Chap ...

on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

Career

Dale Lace came to South Africa as an employee of the Bank of Africa. Dale Lace built a fortune in the diamond industry. He would depart Kimberley for the Witwatersrand Goldfields. During 1895 until 1896, he was a member of the

Johannesburg Reform Committee The Reform Committee was an organisation of prominent Johannesburg citizens which existed late 1895/early 1896. History The Transvaal gold rush had brought in a considerable foreign population, chiefly British although there were substantial mi ...

agitating for better rights for

Uitlanders Uitlander, Afrikaans for "foreigner" (lit. "outlander"), was a foreign (mainly British) migrant worker during the Witwatersrand Gold Rush in the independent Transvaal Republic following the discovery of gold in 1886. The limited rights granted to ...

in the

South African Republic 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 ...

. A consequence of this action resulted in the

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

and would accompany a British Agent with a message to the raiders expressing the Colonial Secretary's disapproval of the raid. When the raid failed, he was one of many of the Committee arrested, tried and found guilty but escaped jail with the payment of a £2,000 fine. After the British victory in the

Second 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 Sout ...

, he was appointed as a Councillor on the first Johannesburg Town Council and he was among the founders of the Transvaal Political Association in Johannesburg in October 1902. The association later became the Transvaal Responsible Government Association, which worked for

Responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...

until it was granted in 1906. He was also a founding member of the Wanderer's Club in Johannesburg., as was a road, Dale Lace Avenue, in Randpark Ridge.

Family

He was twice married to Josephine Cornelia Brink (José) from

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

in the Karoo, who died 14 May 1937. He met and married José for the first time when she was in London pursuing an acting career. It is believed that she was proposed to by

Cecil John Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes (5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was a British mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. An ardent believer in British imperialism, Rhodes and his Brit ...

, prime minister of the Cape at the time, and was mistress to

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

. It is known that she was mistress to another man

Ernest Beckett, 2nd Baron Grimthorpe Ernest William Beckett, 2nd Baron Grimthorpe (born Ernest William Beckett-Denison; 25 November 1856 – 9 May 1917) was a British banker and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 until 1905 when he inherited the Grimt ...

, with whom she had a son, although she claimed it was Edward VII's son. The second time, after Ernest Beckett declined to marry her, she and John married in Cape Town and John adopted her son. They never had children of their own. Josephine Dale Lace was a flamboyant Johannesburg socialite who was often seen in a carriage drawn by a team of zebras. The Dale Laces were owners of one of Johannesburg's most prominent historic landmarks, the Parktown mansion 'Northwards', designed by British architect

Herbert Baker Sir Herbert Baker (9 June 1862 – 4 February 1946) was an English architect remembered as the dominant force in South African architecture for two decades, and a major designer of some of New Delhi's most notable government structures. He wa ...

in 1904. Just as the gold-mining industry was booming, the diamond market was being monopolised by

De Beers De Beers Group is an international corporation that specializes in diamond mining, diamond exploitation, diamond retail, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. The company is active in open-pit, large-scale alluvial and c ...

, which went on to become the world’s largest diamond company - the dissipation of the Dale Lace fortune coincided with a devastating fire at 'Northwards', and in 1912, the charred remains of the house were sold to

George Albu Sir George Albu, 1st Baronet (26 October 1857 – 27 December 1935) was a mining magnate in the diamond and gold industries of South Africa. Biography Lady Albu at wheel of CGV, London April 1905 Northwards, Johannesburg 26.17720S, 28.03 ...

. John Dale Lace lost his fortune and he and José went to live at Boschkop (now

Randpark Ridge Randpark Ridge is an upmarket suburb of Randburg, South Africa. It is located in the Randburg region (region C) of the City of Johannesburg. It fell into the town of Randburg during the apartheid era. Developed in the early 1980s and still relati ...

), northwest of Johannesburg. A gold mine, Lace Propriety Mines Limited, was named after him, as was a road, Dale Lace Avenue, in Randpark Ridge.

References

External links

Radio Talk on Heritage Symposium at Richmond, 2014, with focus on life of Jose Dale Lace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dale Lace, John 1859 births 1937 deaths South African mining businesspeople Randlords Place of birth missing