Sir Robert Williams, 1st Baronet, (21 January 1860 – 25 April 1938) was a Scottish mining engineer, pioneering explorer of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, entrepreneur, and railroad developer who was chiefly responsible for the discovery of the vast

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

deposits in Katanga Province (now incorporated in the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

) and Northern Rhodesia (now

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

Life

Robert Williams was born and educated in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. Williams was closely associated, variously as an employee of, advisor to, and partner with Cecil Rhodes in his many enterprises from the time of their first meeting in 1885 at the de Beers

diamond mine There are a limited number of commercially available diamond mines currently operating in the world, with the 50 largest mines accounting for approximately 90% of global supply. Diamonds are also mined alluvially over disperse areas, where dia ...

in Kimberley until Rhodes's death in 1902. Williams planned and executed the creation of the Benguela railway through then

Portuguese West Africa Portuguese Angola refers to Angola during the historic period when it was a territory under Portuguese rule in southwestern Africa. In the same context, it was known until 1951 as Portuguese West Africa (officially the State of West Africa). I ...

(now

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

)

In 1902, Williams took over the construction and completed the connection to Luau, Moxico, Luau at the border to the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

in 1929. Williams was the managing Director of

Tanganyika Concessions Tanganyika Concessions Limited (TCL or Tanks) was a British mining and railway company founded by the Scottish engineer and entrepreneur Robert Williams in 1899. The purpose was to exploit minerals in Northern Rhodesia and in the Congo Free Sta ...

. founded in 1889. He promoted a market for European goods within southern Africa which was part of a change in trading from barter to currency. He was vice-president of the Belgian

Compagnie de Chemin de fer du Katanga The ''Compagnie de Chemin de fer du Katanga'' (CFK) was a railway company in the Congo Free State and Belgian Congo between 1902 and 1952. It held the railway concession that linked the port of Bukama on the navigable section of the Lualaba River t ...

(CFK) when it was founded in 1902. He was also joint founder, with

King Leopold II * german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father = Leopold I of Belgium , mother = Louise of Orléans , birth_date = , birth_place = Brussels, Belgium , death_date = ...

Union Minière du Haut-Katanga The ''Union Minière du Haut-Katanga'' (French; literally "Mining Union of Upper-Katanga") was a Belgian mining company (with minority British share) which controlled and operated the mining industry in the copperbelt region in the modern-day De ...

in 1906. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he bought Park House, a mansion with several hundred acres of land at

Drumoak Drumoak (, gd, Druim M'Aodhaig, ) is a village situated between Peterculter and Banchory in North Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Drumoak is proximate to the River Dee, with Park Bridge, named for the local Park Estate, being a local crossin ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

. He was granted the

Freedom of the City of Aberdeen The Freedom of the City of Aberdeen is an honour bestowed by the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. History The Freedom of the City of Aberdeen has its origins in the 12th century, through the city's Guild of Burgesses. Certain respected residents would ...

, and was created a baronet in 1928, of Park, Aberdeenshire. He also became a grand officer of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) and commander of the

Royal Order of the Lion The Royal Order of the Lion (french: Ordre Royal du Lion; nl, Koninklijke orde van de Leeuw) was established by King Leopold II of Belgium on 9 April 1891, in his capacity as ruler of the Congo Free State, and was awarded for services to th ...

of Belgium and a knight commander of the Portuguese order of Christ.

References

* Dictionary of National Biography: Williams, Sir Robert, baronet (1860–1938), engineer and businessman * *

External links

* * Sir Robert Williams Papers
TANKS Archive

University of Manchester Library The University of Manchester Library is the library system and information service of the University of Manchester. The main library is on the Oxford Road campus of the university, with its entrance on Burlington Street. There are also ten other ...

1860 births 1938 deaths Williams, Sir Robert, 1st Baronet, of Park British mining businesspeople 1900s in Angola Scottish people of the British Empire British railway civil engineers British railway entrepreneurs People from Aberdeen Sir Robert Williams Grand Officers of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Commanders of the Royal Order of the Lion Commanders of the Order of Christ (Portugal) British expatriates in South Africa Scottish mining engineers Scottish explorers Explorers of Africa British expatriates in Angola {{UK-baronet-stub

Life

See also

References

External links