Randlords were the capitalists who controlled the

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

and

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

mining industries in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in its pioneer phase from the 1870s up to

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 ...

. A small number of European financiers, largely of the same generation, gained control of the diamond mining industry at

Kimberley, Northern Cape Kimberley is the capital and largest city of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is located approximately 110 km east of the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The city has considerable historical significance due to it ...

. They set up an infrastructure of financing and industrial consolidation which they then applied to exploit the discoveries of gold from 1886 in

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, ...

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 ...

— the "Rand". Once based in the Transvaal, many set up residence in the mansions of Parktown. Many of the Randlords received

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

cies in recognition of their contributions.

Notable Randlords

* Sir George Albu, 1st Bt (1857–1935)' * Leopold Albu (1861–1938) * Sir Abe Bailey, 1st Bt (1864–1940) * Barney Barnato (1852–1897) *

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 ...

(1853–1906) * Sir Otto Beit, 1st Bt (1865–1930) *

Hermann Ludwig Eckstein Hermann Ludwig Eckstein (3 August 1847 – 16 January 1893) was a German-born British mining magnate and banker. Life history Born in Hohenheim near Stuttgart, Germany to a Lutheran minister, he received an excellent education. He came to ...

(1847–1893) * Sir George Herbert Farrar (1859–1915) *

Adolf Goerz Adolf Goerz (born 18 December 1857 in Mainz Germany d. 28 July 1900 in Giessbach Switzerland) was a German-South African mining engineer. He emigrated to Africa around 1888. He founded Adolf Görz & Co which later became the Union Corporation, ...

(1857–1900) *

John Hays Hammond John Hays Hammond (March 31, 1855 – June 8, 1936) was an American mining engineer, diplomat, and philanthropist. He amassed a sizable fortune before the age of 40. An early advocate of deep mining, Hammond was given complete charge of Ce ...

(1855–1936) *

Gustav Imroth Gustav Imroth (29 June 1862 – 10 October 1946) was a minor Randlord who played a role in the development of the South African diamond-mining industry and sports. He was born in Friedberg, Germany in 1862 into a Jewish banking family, tr ...

(1862–1946) *

Solomon Joel Solomon Barnato "Solly" Joel (23 May 1865 – 22 May 1931), born in London, England, moved to South Africa in the 1880s where he made his fortune in connection with diamonds, later becoming a financier with interests in mining, brewing and rail ...

(1865–1931) *

John Dale Lace Colonel John Dale Lace (27 November 1859 – 5 June 1937) was a South African gold and diamond mining magnate and Randlord. He was born in Port St Mary on the Isle of Man. Career Dale Lace came to South Africa as an employee of the Bank of ...

(1859–1937) * Isaac Lewis (1849–1927) * Samuel Marks (1843–1920) * Maximilian Michaelis (1852–1932) *

Sigismund Neumann Sir Sigismund Neumann (Anglicized name Sigmund) (1857 1916) was a mining magnate (Randlord) and financier on the Witwatersrand. Early life and family Neumann was born in Fürth, Bavaria, on 25 May 1857 to Jewish parents, Gustav and Babette Neuma ...

(1857–1916) * Sir Lionel Phillips, 1st Bt (1855–1936) *

Jules Porgès Jules Porgès (25 May 1839 – 20 September 1921) was a Paris-based financier who played a central role in the rise of the Randlords who controlled the diamond and gold mining industries in South Africa. He was born Yehuda Porges in Vienna and ...

(1838–1921) *

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 ...

(1853–1902) * Sir Joseph Benjamin Robinson, 1st Bt (1840–1929) * Charles Dunell Rudd (1844–1916) *

Jim B Taylor James Benjamin Taylor (December 1860 – 25 December 1944) was a South African Randlord. He followed a typical route to great wealth – diamonds in Kimberley, gold in Barberton and Pilgrim's Rest, and ending up on the Witwatersrand in Johannes ...

(1860-1944) * Sir Julius Wernher, 1st Bt (1850–1912) *

Sir Thomas Cullinan Sir Thomas Cullinan (12 February 186223 August 1936) was a South African diamond magnate. He is renowned for giving his name to the Cullinan Diamond, the largest diamond ever discovered, and as owner of the Premier Mine, now renamed the Cullinan ...

(1862–1936)

Industrial legacy

As the first generation of Randlords died or retired, the next generation concentrated on the process of consolidation and corporatisation, developing the mining companies into integrated quoted companies. Cecil Rhodes's first round of diamond mine consolidation with

De Beers Consolidated Mines 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 ...

was continued by Sir

Ernest Oppenheimer Sir Ernest Oppenheimer (22 May 1880 – 25 November 1957), KStJ was a diamond and gold mining entrepreneur, financier and philanthropist, who controlled De Beers and founded the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa. Career Ernest Oppenhe ...

(1880–1957) best represents this phase, with his strengthening of the market power of De Beers and his development from 1917 of the giant Anglo American mining company (whose gold interests are now held by

AngloGold Ashanti AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a global gold mining company. It was formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloGold and the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation. It is now a global gold producer with 21 operations on four continents. The company is listed ...

. Other Johannesburg mining houses formed the basis of other corporate mining giants which still exist. For example: Porgès and Eckstein's "Corner House" became

Randgold Resources Randgold Resources is a gold mining business operating mainly in Mali. Headquartered in Jersey, Channel Islands, it was listed on the London and the NASDAQ stock exchanges until it merged with Barrick Gold in December 2018. History The company w ...

; Rhodes's Consolidated Gold Fields became

Gold Fields Limited Gold Fields Limited (formerly The Gold Fields of South Africa) is one of the world's largest gold mining firms. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company is listed on both the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the New York Sto ...

; George and Leopold Albu's General Mining and Finance Corporation became

Gencor Gencor Ltd was a South African based mining company. It was formed in 1980 after the merger of the General Mining and Finance Corporation and the Union Corporation. Parts of the company are now owned by Gold Fields and BHP. History Gencor has it ...

; Barney Barnato's Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company or "Johnnies" became

JCI Limited JCI or Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Co. Ltd. was founded in 1889 by the British entrepreneur Barney Barnato. JCI was a major force in South African mining for over 100 years. Using his investments in the Kimberley diamond fields, particul ...

Philanthropy and cultural legacy

The Randlords came largely from humble backgrounds, and many used their fortunes to elevate their position in society. A significant number overcame the prejudices against nouveaux-riches and Jews to gain entry to the English "establishment" and received knighthoods. Their architectural patronage has left a legacy across South Africa and in England. In Johannesburg alone, structures such as the Randlord mansions on

Parktown Parktown is a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, the first suburb north of the inner city (both chronologically and geographically). It is affectionately known as one of the Parks, others including Parkview, Parkwood, Westcliff, Park ...

Ridge sprang up, many designed by

Sir 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 ...

. The

Johannesburg Art Gallery The Johannesburg Art Gallery is an art gallery in Joubert Park in the city centre of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the largest gallery on the continent with a collection that is larger than that of the Iziko South African National Gallery ...

in Joubert Park was championed by Florence Phillips, wife of Sir Lionel Phillips. Across the UK, many public collections and

mansions A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property la ...

bear witness to the wealth of the Randlords, including the Wernher Collection, formerly at

Luton Hoo Luton Hoo is an English country house and estate near Luton in Bedfordshire and Harpenden in Hertfordshire. Most of the estate lies within the civil parish of Hyde, Bedfordshire. The Saxon word Hoo means the spur of a hill, and is more common ...

and now at

Ranger's House Ranger's House is a medium-sized red brick Georgian mansion in the Palladian style, adjacent to Greenwich Park in the south east of London. It is situated in Blackheath and backs directly onto Greenwich Park. Previously known as Chesterfield ...

. Amongst many philanthropic ventures by Randlords, the Beit Trust established by Sir Alfred Beit built over 400 bridges in southern Africa; the

Rhodes Scholarships The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is con ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

were endowed by Cecil Rhodes.

Other uses

Randlord may also be used loosely as a term for any wealthy South African businessman. The phrase gained extra meaning when the currency of South Africa was renamed the

rand The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is finan ...

in 1961.

References

Sources

*Maryna Fraser, ‘Randlords (act. 1880s–1914)’, ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', online edn, Oxford University Press, Oct 200
accessed 7 Oct 2006

External links

South African History OnLine
{{Political history of South Africa History of South Africa De Beers Gold mining companies of South Africa Diamond mining companies