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 its diamond mining past and the siege during the Second Anglo-Boer war. British businessmen Cecil Rhodes and Barney Barnato made their fortunes in Kimberley, and Rhodes established the De Beers diamond company in the early days of the mining town.
Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km2 that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province. It was inhabited by the Griqua people – a semi-nomadic, Afrikaans-speaking nation of mixed-race origin, who established several states outside the expanding frontier of the Cape Colony. It was also inhabited by the pre-existing Tswana and Khoisan peoples.
Barney Barnato, born Barnet Isaacs, was a British Randlord, one of the entrepreneurs who gained control of diamond mining, and later gold mining, in South Africa from the 1870s. He is perhaps best remembered as being a rival of Cecil Rhodes.
Sir Julius Charles Wernher, 1st Baronet was a German-born Randlord and art collector who became part of the English establishment.
The Kimberley Mine or Tim Kuilmine is an open-pit and underground mine in Kimberley, South Africa, and claimed to be the deepest hole excavated by hand, although this claim is disputed.
The De Beers Diamond Oval is a multi-purpose stadium in Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa. It opened in 1973 and has a capacity of 11,000. It is currently used mostly for cricket matches and is the home venue of both the VKB Knights, in the Sunfoil Series, and Northern Cape, in the CSA Provincial Competitions. Griqualand West left the old De Beers Stadium ahead of the 1973–74 season and have been resident at the Diamond Oval since then.
Koffiefontein Mine is a diamond mine situated in the Free State province, about 80 km from Kimberley, South Africa. It is one of the many Kimberley mines of which Kimberley mine, de Beers mine, Dutoitspan, Bultfontein and Wesselton are its more famous neighbours.
The siege of Kimberley took place during the Second Boer War at Kimberley, Cape Colony, when Boer forces from the Orange Free State and the Transvaal besieged the diamond mining town. The Boers moved quickly to try to capture the area when war broke out between the British and the two Boer republics in October 1899. The town was ill-prepared, but the defenders organised an energetic and effective improvised defence that was able to prevent it from being taken.
The Geological Commission of the Cape of Good Hope was a South African geological survey that published a series of maps and literature of the geology and hydrogeology of South Africa, particularly the Western Cape and surrounding areas during its existence from 1896 to 1911.
The Cathedral Church of St Cyprian the Martyr, Kimberley, is the seat of the Bishop of the Kimberley and Kuruman, Anglican Church of Southern Africa. The building was dedicated in 1908, becoming a Cathedral when the Synod of Bishops mandated formation of the new Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman in October 1911. The first Bishop, the Rt Revd Wilfrid Gore Browne, was enthroned there on 30 June 1912.
Phakamile Mabija was an African anti-Apartheid activist who died while in police custody in 1977.
William Thomas Gaul (1850–1927) was Rector of All Saints Church, Du Toit's Pan, Kimberley, afterwards of St Cyprian's Church, Kimberley, Rural Dean of Griqualand West, and Archdeacon in what was still the Diocese of Bloemfontein, before being elected the second Bishop of Mashonaland, where he styled himself "the smallest bishop with the largest diocese in Christendom." He officiated at the funeral of Cecil John Rhodes and helped draft the Rhodes Trust Deed.
The Golden Eye Diamond is a flawless 43.51-carat (8.702 g) Fancy Intense Yellow diamond, claimed by one of its past owners to be the world's largest of its cut and color. It is believed to come from the Kimberley area of South Africa. Tom Moses, a senior vice president with the Gemological Institute of America, agrees that it came from South Africa, but it has not been able to be determined the mine of origin.
Frances Goitsemang Baard was a South African trade unionist, organiser for the African National Congress Women's League and a Patron of the United Democratic Front, who was commemorated in the renaming of the Diamantveld District Municipality (Kimberley) as the Frances Baard District Municipality. Schoeman Street in Pretoria was also renamed in her honour.
The Eureka Diamond was the first diamond discovered in South Africa. It originally weighed 21.25 carats (4.250 g), and was later cut to a 10.73-carat (2.146 g) cushion-shaped brilliant, which is currently on display at the Mine Museum in Kimberley. The discovery of diamonds in South Africa led to the Kimberley Diamond Rush, and marked the beginning of the Mineral Revolution.
The Diamond Fields Advertiser (DFA) is a daily newspaper published in Kimberley, South Africa, founded on 23 March 1878.
The Dwyka River is located in the Karoo region, in South Africa. It flows from the North-west, joining the Gamka River as a tributary at the Gamka Dam.
Beaconsfield is the name of a suburb of Kimberley, South Africa, formerly known as Du Toit's Pan. Beaconsfield was a separate borough from Kimberley itself until its amalgamation with the latter as the City of Kimberley in 1912.
The Cape Government Railways 0-4-0ST 1881 Coffee Pot was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.
Colonel Sir David Harris was a soldier, diamond magnate, and legislator.
