DIAMOND MAGNATE DEAD

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 808, 31 October 1929, Page 9

DIAMOND MAGNATE DEAD

SIR JOSEPH B. ROBINSON, AGED 89 CAPETOWN, Wednesday. The death has occurred of Sir Joseph B. Robinson, a pioneer of the diamond and gold mining industries. He sent the first parcel of diamonds from South Africa to London. Joseph Benjamin Robinson was born at Cradock in the Eastern Province. In his early days he engaged in farming and woolbuying. During the Basuto War in 1565 he fought in the Free State. He was early on the scene at the diamond fields and acquired about- 20,000 acres in the Vaal River region, where he started successful mines. Taking a prominent part in the affairs of Kimberley, he was elected its Mayor in 1880. He claimed to have been the first discoverer of the Witwatersrand goldfield.

Arriving on the Rand in ISS6, Robinson at oi te began prospecting on the Langlaate Yarm. When he bought the farm for £6,000, people laughed at him. But Robinson struck the main reef at a depth of 360 ft, and cable messages announced the discovery to the world. Europe, for the first time, realised the possibilities in this field and men were sent out to investigate and to invest in properties. The township of Johannesburg was formed and it eventually became the chief city of South Africa. The Old Robinson reef alone has yielded about 6,000,000 ounces of gold.