thumb William Broderick Cloete (1851 – 7 May 1915) was a South African-born British industrialist active in the border zones between

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in the late 19th century. He and Robert Symon, an industrialist from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, purchased 1.3 million acres of land between Monterrey and

Saltillo Saltillo () is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila and is also the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. Mexico City, Monterrey, and Saltillo are all connected by a major railroad and highwa ...

, which constituted the only workable railway route between Monterrey and the interior of Mexico. After the Mexican National Construction Company chose to plot the

Mexican National Railroad Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

across this land, Symon sold his stake for $60,000 to a group of British investors incorporated as the San Marcos and Pinos company, while Cloete - who gained an additional advantage from land ownership, since the railway would access several mines he owned - retained his stake, eventually becoming a director of the new company. On 18 July 1902 he married Violet Kate Henley, the daughter of Joseph Arthur Henley; they maintained a residence in Hare Park outside

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Cloete is also noted for his belief in the legend of the

Lost Nigger Gold Mine The Lost Nigger Gold Mine is a legendary mine in the folklore of the United States. According to the legend, in 1887 four brothers in Dryden, Texas—Frank, Jim, John, and Lee Reagan—hired an illiterate Seminole named William Kelly to help with w ...

; he offered Lock Campbell, a Texan man, expenses of $10,000 if he would undertake an expedition to find it. On 19 July 1899, Campbell and four other men signed an agreement to search for it, and one of the men later claimed to have discovered it in the Ladrones Mountains in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

, but this was never verified. He died in the

Sinking of the RMS Lusitania The was a UK-registered ocean liner that was torpedoed by an Imperial German Navy U-boat during the First World War on 7 May 1915, about off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland. The attack took place in the declared maritime war-zone around th ...

on 7 May 1915, but his body was never identified.

References

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cloete, William Broderick British industrialists 1915 deaths Deaths on the RMS Lusitania 1851 births Racehorse owners and breeders South African expatriates in the United Kingdom 19th-century British businesspeople