1814 – Dr William Guybon Atherstone is Born

On 6 March 1814, Dr William Guybon Atherstone was born in Nottingham, England. Although he never lived in Kimberley, his work would have a profound impact on the city's future and on the history of South Africa.

A physician, geologist and natural scientist, Atherstone emigrated to the Cape Colony in 1831 and settled in Grahamstown. His scientific interests extended well beyond medicine, and he became one of the colony's leading authorities on geology and mineralogy.

His place in Kimberley's story was secured in 1867, when Dr Lorenzo Boyes, the Civil Commissioner of Colesberg, sent him an unusual pebble that had been found near Hopetown by fifteen-year-old Erasmus Jacobs. After careful examination, Atherstone confirmed that the stone was indeed a 21.25-carat diamond. That discovery, later named the Eureka Diamond, was the first authenticated diamond found in South Africa. It sparked growing international interest in the region and ultimately led to the great diamond rushes of Klipdrift, Du Toit's Pan, Bultfontein and Vooruitzicht, culminating in the birth of Kimberley.

Without Atherstone's scientific expertise, the significance of the stone might have remained unrecognised for much longer. His confirmation transformed what had been dismissed by some as an attractive pebble into the discovery that changed the economic future of southern Africa. Today, Atherstone is remembered not only as a distinguished scientist but also as one of the men whose work made Kimberley possible.

Did You Know?

When Dr William Guybon Atherstone confirmed the Eureka Diamond in 1867, he could never have imagined that his identification would lead to the discovery of the world's richest diamond mines and the founding of Kimberley just four years later.