Before the discovery of diamonds in 1869 there was little to attract foreign adventurers, prospectors and capitalists to the shores of South Africa, the predominant activity of economic enterprise being sheep farming.

However, the discovery of diamonds dramatically altered South Africa’s fortunes, particularly in the area of foreign immigration, as news of the discovery, which rapidly spread across the globe, impelled thousands of foreign prospectors to rush to South Africa’s arid and dusty hinterland in search of a sparkling fortune.

With the arrival of so many foreigners, the mining camps adjacent to the diamond diggings became a melting pot of nationalities, consisting of, besides black workers, local Afrikaners, Englishmen, Australians, Americans, Germans, Frenchmen, Italians, and even the odd Spaniard.

Local Boer farmers made up the largest number of diggers on the diamond fields, followed closely by Cape and Natal colonists. It is easy to understand why these three groups of people made up the largest proportion of diggers, as they were the closest at hand when the news of the discovery of diamonds broke.

The Boer farmers from the Transvaal and the Orange Free State were the first to arrive at the river and dry diggings in 1869 and 1870.

Of all the people to arrive at the diamond fields, the Boers were the most well equipped. Generally, they arrived at the fields with their wagons, oxen, sheep, as well as good stock of maize, flour, tobacco and Cape Smoke brandy.

Moreover, the Boers had with them not only their wives and children, but also a large number of black men and women, who were obtained to do the heavy manual labour on the claims.

It was claimed that the Boer prospectors allowed their wives and young children to do most of the digging in the claims, while the patriarchs concentrated their efforts on searching for diamonds at the sorting tables, much to the indignation of some Victorian-principled Englishmen.

Interestingly, while most Boers found quite a number of diamonds in their claims and were able to make a living on the fields, no Afrikaner rose to become a mining magnate on the fields.

The second-largest group of people were the Cape and Natal colonists. In general, these were English-speaking merchants, tradespeople or farmers from the adjacent British colonies who had abandoned their homes and occupations in 1870 in search of diamonds.

Among the Cape colonists was Cradock-born Joseph B Robinson, a formidable and ruthless character in South Africa’s early diamond- and gold-mining history who rose to become one of the country’s greatest mining magnates.

The British were the largest group of foreigners on the diamond fields.

When the British annexed Griqualand West, the prospects of the diamond fields received considerable press in England and this, no doubt, did much to encourage the multitudes of British men (and women) to join in the rush for diamonds.

Two Englishmen who ventured to the South African diamond fields in the early 1870s, Cecil John Rhodes and Barney Barnato, would experience considerable success as diamond miners and traders and would go on to establish the world’s greatest diamond mining company, De Beers Consolidated.

Of the people of British origin, a large number came from Cornwall, a county of England with a rich 2 000-year mining heritage.

In fact, the Cornishmen were the mining experts of the midnineteenth century, having significant experience in copper, tin, silver and lead mining, and their presence and mining expertise were greatly appreciated on the diamond fields.

A notable Cornish addition to the population was Francis Oats, a young Cornishman from St Just who had represented his country’s mining interests at the very first Miner’s World Congress, held in Paris in 1867. This had brought him to the attention of mining authorities outside Cornwall and, in 1874, his services were engaged by the Kimberley Mining Board.

Diggers and adventurers from the US and Australia were also present in large numbers on the fields. The diggers, generally, did very well on the diamond fields owing to their previous experience of gold mining in California and Victoria.

The influence of these groups on the diamond fields was most prominent during the very early stages of the river and dry diggings development, particularly regarding the nature of the rules and regulations governing the diggings, as many legislative stipulations corresponded to the regulations governing the diggings of California and Australia.

Germans also came to the diamond fields in large numbers, although more of them were to be found among diamond buyers than among diamond diggers.

Perhaps the most famous diamond magnate of German origin was Hamburg-born Alfred Beit, who made a substantial fortune as an entrepreneur and diamond buyer. As the diamond fields consolidated in the 1880s, Beit would become the richest of all the Kimberley diamond magnates.

Frenchmen, Italians and Spaniards were also present on the diamond fields but were few in number. They soon became part of the great mass of English-speaking diggers, and lost many of their most apparent national characteristics.

(The biographies of the diamond magnates mentioned will be examined individually at a later stage.)

To subscribe to Mining Weekly's print magazine email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or buy now.