Today in Kimberley's History
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On this Day Elsewhere
Barney Barnato was born in 4 July 1852, Whitechapel slum of London. His original name was Barnett Issacs but changed it to Barney Barnatto when he was acting as a comedian. He followed his brother Harry to Cape Town in 1873 to seek fortune in the diamond rush that followed the 1866 discovery of diamond in Kimberly. He came to South Africa penniless, but within 10 years he was a millionaire and the Barnato Diamond Mining Company that he helped set up was a competitive rival of Cecil John Rhodes’ De Beers company. |
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Primary information source courtesy of Kimberley Calls...and Recalls Facebook Group (except where otherwise stated)
