Cecil Rhodes - history.

Cecil Rhodes - history. Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902), British colonial statesman and financier, one of the main promoters of British rule in southern Africa. Cecil John Rhodes was born July 5, 1853, in Bishop's Stortford, England. In 1870 he was sent to live with his brother in Africa, in the area now known as South Africa. Diamond fields were discovered at Kimberley in Cape Colony that year, and Rhodes became a diamond prospector. By the time he was 19 years old he had accumulated a large fortune. In 1873 he returned to England to s...