Charles Rudd
Charles Dunell Rudd (born October 22, 1844 in Hanworth in North Norfolk , † November 15, 1916 in London ) was a British gold and diamond magnate. He was a business partner of Cecil Rhodes , co-founder of De Beers , who made a fortune in the gold and diamond boom in the Cape Colony .
Ascent
Rudd was a major figure in the 19th century South African diamond rush. He dropped out of Trinity College (Cambridge) in 1865 and went to the Cape Colony as an adventurer . In 1872 he met Rhodes and became its business partner and agent. He handled the difficult negotiations on site while another partner named Alfred Beit took care of the financing, first with the purchase of the mineral rights in Kimberley , then with the establishment of The Gold Fields of South Africa and later in Matabeleland with King Lobengula in 1888.
These acquisitions first opened the way to the diamond monopoly in South Africa , then to the gold mines in Rhodesia . Together with Beit, both founded the De Beers Consolidated Mines Company for diamonds, then the British South Africa Company (BSAC) for gold and the settlement of Rhodesia. This name was already in use as a term for this region in 1895. It was the BSAC that put down the Ndebele and Shona uprisings in 1893 and 1897, and it was BSAC settlers who died on the Shangani patrol .
In 1902 Rudd retired to Scotland and bought a country estate in Ardnamurchan . He died of a failed prostate operation in London in 1916 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Roy Macnab: Gold their Touchstone. Jonathan Ball Publishers , 1987
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rudd, Charles |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Rudd, Charles Dunell (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British gold and diamond magnate |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 22, 1844 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hanworth , North Norfolk |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 15, 1916 |
| Place of death | London |