Rhodes Colossus

A sickly vicar’s son from Bishop’s Stortford went on to be one of the most influential and controversial figures of the Victorian age. With the 115th anniversary of Cecil Rhodes’ death this month, Stephen Roberts looks at his remarkable life

- Stephen Roberts

IT’S A CONUNDRUM, how a sickly lad from Hertfordshire became a leading figure in South African politics, one of the world’s wealthiest men, and helped expand the British Empire by 450,000 square miles.

A controversial figure to say the least, then and now, Cecil John Rhodes was born in Bishop’s Stortford in 1853, fifth son of the vicar of St Michael’s, and one of nine children. Unlike his brothers, who were sent to public school, Cecil was educated at the town’s grammar school in the High Street most likely because of his asthma. Home life was comfortable with 10 servants.

Today’s Bishop’s Stortford Museum is housed in Cecil’s birthplace Netteswell House, a three-storey late-18th-century semi, in South Road. The room he was born in is adorned with a tablet on the outside wall, stating: ‘The Right Hon’ble Cecil John Rhodes, the founder of Rhodesia, was born in the room within July 5th 1853’. After Cecil’s birth, the family moved next door to Thorley Bourne.

Growing up, Cecil wandered around Bishop’s Stortford, usually alone, or sat musing in the family garden. He also attended regular services at his father’s church, where a bronze tablet today summarises his life. It was aged 16 that events shook Cecil from his wistful, quiet existence. Rather than going to college he was sent to Natal, the coastal South Africa British colony, in a bid to help his asthma. Joining his brother Herbert in Natal, he helped him run a cotton plantation. His sojourn in warmer climes soon proved beneficial for other reasons than asthma, however, as he and Herbert developed an interest in the diamond market – far more lucrative than cotton.