View source for Witwatersrand Gold Rush

{{Short description|Gold rush in Johannesburg, South Africa}}
{{Infobox event
| title = Witwatersrand Gold Rush
| image = Witwatersrand gold.png
| image_size = 350px
| caption = Witwatersrand Basin and major goldfields
| native_name = 
| native_name_lang = 
| english_name = 
| date = 1886
| venue = 
| place = [[Witwatersrand Basin]], [[Johannesburg]], South Africa
| coordinates = 
| also known as = 
| type = 
| theme = 
| cause = 
| budget = 
| patron = <!-- or | patrons = -->
| organisers = <!-- or | organizers = -->
| first reporter = 
| filmed by = 
| participants = 
| outcome = The largest gold rush ever led to the eventual [[Boer]] defeat in the [[Second Boer War]] (1899-1902), the loss of Boer autonomy and self-government, and total British rule in [[South Africa]]
}}
{{History of South Africa}}

The '''Witwatersrand Gold Rush''' was a [[gold rush]] that began in 1886 and led to the establishment of [[Johannesburg]], South Africa. It was a part of the [[Mineral Revolution]].

==Origins==
{{unreferenced section|date=November 2023}}
In the modern-day province of [[Mpumalanga]], [[gold]] miners in the [[alluvial]] [[mining|mine]]s of [[Barberton, South Africa|Barberton]] and [[Pilgrim's Rest, Mpumalanga|Pilgrim's Rest]] and local tribes had suspected the existence of gold deposits. In 1886, gold was found in the [[Witwatersrand]] region. Scientific studies show that the "Golden Arc", which stretches from [[Johannesburg]] to [[Welkom]], used to be a massive inland lake, and [[silt]] and gold deposits from alluvial gold settled in the area that formed the found gold.

==Discovery==
{{main article|Witwatersrand Basin}}
[[File:langlaagte.jpg|thumb|The farm outside of [[Johannesburg]], near [[Paarlshoop]], on the [[Witwatersrand]] – site of the first discovery of gold in 1886.]]

The first discovery of gold in the region was made in 1852 on the Pardekraal farm, [[Krugersdorp]], in the [[South African Republic]] (ZAR) by John Henry Davis, a Welsh mineralogist.<ref>https://www.wits.ac.za/media/migration/files/EGRI%20274.pdf {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref><ref name="Eric">{{Cite book |last=Rosenhal |first=Eric |title=Gold! Gold! Gold! The Johannesburg Gold Rush |publisher=Macmillan |year=1970 |location=USA |pages=12–13 |language=en |lccn=70-77972}}</ref>{{rp|11}} Davis presented his gold find to President [[Andries Pretorius]] who feared what would happen to the new republic if the discovery became widely known. Davis was told to sell the gold, worth £600, to the Transvaal Treasury and was subsequently ordered to leave the country and escorted to the border, where he returned to the [[Cape Colony]].<ref name=Eric/>{{rp|11}}<ref name="Shorten">{{cite book | title=The Johannesburg Saga | publisher=John R. Shorten Pty Ltd | author=Shorten, John R. | year=1970 | location=Johannesburg | pages=1159}}</ref>{{rp|49}}

Another find by Pieter Jacob Marais, who had dug gold in California, was recorded in 1853 on the [[Jukskei River]] but was subject to similar secrecy.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thesouthafricaguide.com/famous-south-africans-and-history/south-african-history-gold-in-south-africa-the-witwatersrand/|title=History Of Gold In South Africa - In The Witwatersrand|date=2010-07-03|newspaper=The South Africa Guide|language=en-US|access-date=2016-11-23|archive-date=2016-11-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123202214/http://www.thesouthafricaguide.com/famous-south-africans-and-history/south-african-history-gold-in-south-africa-the-witwatersrand/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Gray/>{{rp|18}} He arrived at Potchefstroom on September 3, 1853. Marais explored the northern slopes of the Witwatersrand, a few kilometers from the future main reef, finding small gold samples while panning the [[Crocodile River (Limpopo)|Crocodile]] and Jukskei rivers and exploring the [[Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve|Suikerboschrand]] in the south during October and November 1853.<ref name="Eric" />{{rp|12–13}}On December 1, Marais sought approval from the Volksraad to look for gold, which was accepted with the provision that the Commission of the existing districts of the Republic would be notified if it was discovered.<ref name="Gray">{{Cite book|last1=Gray|first1=James|title=Payable Gold|last2=Gray|first2=Ethel L.|publisher=Central News Agency|year=1937|location=South Africa|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|17}} He was also warned that if he told any foreign power about any potential finds that caused a disturbance to the republic's existence, he would be punished by death.<ref name=Shorten/>{{rp|49}}  Marais then paddled the Sand and Dwars rivers in January 1854.<ref name="Eric" />{{rp|12–13}} His small gold finds were exhibited at the courthouse in Potchefstroom in January 1854.<ref name=Gray/>{{rp|17}} After submitting his final report to the ZAR government on April 7, 1855, he left the ZAR in 1855 to settle in [[Dordrecht, Eastern Cape|Dordrecht]], Cape Colony.<ref name=Eric/>{{rp|14}}<ref name=Gray/>{{rp|18}}

In 1856, Lieutenant Lys travelled to Pretoria from [[Pietermaritzburg]] and became stuck crossing a marsh on the farm ''Driefontein'', today's [[Germiston]], which would become the Knights Mine.<ref name=Shorten/>{{rp|16}}<ref name=Eric/>{{rp|19}} On returning to his wagon, he discovered conglomerate rock that, when crushed, contained gold.<ref name=Eric/>{{rp|19}}

Though there were smaller mining operations in the region, it was not until 1884 and the subsequent 1886 discovery at Langlaagte that the Witwatersrand gold rush got underway in earnest.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.miningartifacts.org/South-African-Mines.html|title=South-African-Mines|website=www.miningartifacts.org|access-date=2016-11-23|archive-date=2019-12-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228030345/http://www.miningartifacts.org/South-African-Mines.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Explorer and prospector [[Jan Bantjes#Family|Jan Gerrit Bantjes]] (1840-1914) was the first and original discoverer of a Witwatersrand gold reef in June 1884. He had prospected the area since the early 1880s,<ref>SAHistory [https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/discovery-gold-1884] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307180458/https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/discovery-gold-1884|date=2022-03-07}}</ref> and operated the Kromdraai Gold Mine in 1883 in the NW of present-day Johannesburg with his partner Johannes Stephanus Minnaar in an area known today as the "[[Cradle of Humankind]]". However, he found minor reefs, and today the consensus holds that credit for the discovery of the main gold reef is attributed to George Harrison, whose findings on the farm Langlaagte were made in July 1886, either through accident or systematic prospecting. This was falsely believed by some to be a British attempt to give credit for the discovery to the Anglo-Saxon sector to justify claiming the Witwatersrand fields as British. This move was falsely held to be one of the factors leading to the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. Harrison declared his claim with the then-government of the South African Republic (ZAR), and the area was pronounced open. His discovery was recorded with a monument where the original gold outcrop is believed to be located and a park named in his honor. Harrison is believed to have sold his claim for less than 10 pounds before leaving the area.<ref>{{Cite web |title=THE WITWATERSRAND GOLD RUSH 1886 (Vc) |url=https://www.timewisetraveller.co.uk/witwatersrand.html |access-date=2022-10-12 |website=www.timewisetraveller.co.uk |archive-date=2022-10-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012050057/https://www.timewisetraveller.co.uk/witwatersrand.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

News of gold spread rapidly and reached [[Cecil Rhodes]] in [[Kimberley, Northern Cape|Kimberley]]. Rhodes and his partner Robinson, with a team of companions, were curious and rode over 400&nbsp;km to Bantjes' camp at Vogelstruisfontein, where they stayed with him for two nights near what would later become [[Roodepoort]]. Rhodes purchased the first batch of Witwatersrand gold from Bantjes for £3000. This purchase was the first transaction of the newly formed company, Consolidated Gold Fields of South Africa.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/online/blcas/rhodes-cj1.html|title=Correspondence of Cecil John Rhodes (1)|website=www.bodley.ox.ac.uk|access-date=2016-11-23|archive-date=2016-07-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716153642/http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/online/blcas/rhodes-cj1.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

News reached the rest of the world, and prospectors from Australia to California began arriving in masses, and settlers arrived in soon-to-be Johannesburg. The entrance of foreigners was going well, but a number of years later, President [[Paul Kruger]] of the [[South African Republic]] (ZAR) worried that foreigners would outnumber the Boers and put in place measures to stop this. Kruger discussed the measures with Bantjes, whose father, [[Jan Bantjes|Jan Gerritze Bantjes]], had educated Kruger when he was a boy during the [[Great Trek]]. One of the measures placed heavy taxes on the sale of dynamite to foreigners to slow the momentum. This agitated the miners, and the British took this as a reason to claim the gold fields for themselves. The [[Jameson Raid]] followed, which brought attention to [[Cecil Rhodes]]. The Jameson Raid was supported by Rhodes and led by Sir Leander Starr Jameson. Its intent was to overthrow the Transvaal government and turn the region into a British colony. There were 500 men who took part in the uprising; 21 were killed, and many were arrested, then trialed and sentenced.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/jameson-raid|title=Jameson Raid|last=Anonymous|date=2011-03-21|website=www.sahistory.org.za|access-date=2016-11-23|archive-date=2016-11-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161122192824/http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/jameson-raid|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Founding of Johannesburg==
[[File:Ferreira's Gold Mine in 1886.jpg|thumb|[[Ferreirasdorp]] gold mine in 1886, the oldest part of Johannesburg<ref name="Yap1996">{{cite book|author=Melanie Yap|title=Colour, Confusion and Concessions: The History of the Chinese in South Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ca9nqe6PRoC&pg=PA84|access-date=2013-05-07|year=1996|publisher=Hong Kong University Press|isbn=978-962-209-424-6|page=84}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Chinatown Precinct Plan|url=http://www.joburg-archive.co.za/2011/inner_city/chinatown_precinct_plan2009.pdf|publisher=City of Johannesburg|access-date=10 May 2013|quote=The oldest part of Johannesburg was first known as Ferreira’s Camp and later Ferreiradorp.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063523/http://www.joburg-archive.co.za/2011/inner_city/chinatown_precinct_plan2009.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and where the first gold diggers initially settled.<ref name=westgate>{{cite web|title=Westgate Station Precinct Spatial Development Framework and Implementation Plan|url=http://www.joburg-archive.co.za/2011/inner_city/westgate/sdf_plan_analysis_heritage_assets.pdf|publisher=City of Johannesburg (Archive)|access-date=7 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304185711/http://www.joburg-archive.co.za/2011/inner_city/westgate/sdf_plan_analysis_heritage_assets.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>]]

The mining village of [[Ferreira's Camp]] was formalized into a settlement after people seeking gold settled in the area. Initially, the ZAR did not believe that the gold would last for long and mapped out a small triangular piece of land to cram as many plots onto as possible. This is the reason Johannesburg's [[central business district]] streets are so narrow. There is a dispute as to the origin of the name Johannesburg and to whom [[Johannes]], a common Dutch name, the city was named after. One theory is that it is named after two state surveyors who were sent to choose an area for the layout of the new town, Johann Rissik and [[Christiaan Johannes Joubert]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&id=275|title=City of Johannesburg - How was Johannesburg named?|website=www.joburg.org.za|access-date=2016-11-23|archive-date=2016-11-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123202310/http://www.joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&id=275|url-status=live}}</ref>

Within 10 years, the town was the largest in South Africa, growing faster than [[Cape Town]], which was more than 200 years older. The gold rush saw massive development of Johannesburg and the Witwatersrand, and the area today is the prime metropolitan area of South Africa. One consequence of the gold rush was the construction of the first railway lines in this part of Africa. As a result of the rapid development of the goldfields on the Witwatersrand in the 1880s and the demand for coal by the growing industry, a concession was granted by the ZAR government to the [[Netherlands-South African Railway Company]] (NZASM) on [[July 20]], [[1888]], to construct a {{convert|25|km}} railway line from Johannesburg to [[Boksburg]]. The line was opened on March 17, 1890, with the first train being hauled by a [[NZASM 14 Tonner 0-4-0T|14 Tonner]] locomotive. It became known as the "Randtram", even though it was a railway and not dedicated to tram traffic. This was the first working railway line in the [[Transvaal (province)|Transvaal]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 1: 1859-1910|last=Holland|first=D.F.|publisher=Newton Abbott|year=1971|isbn=978-0-7153-5382-0|edition=1st|location=Devon|pages=109–112}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Espitalier|first1=T.J.|last2=Day|first2=W.A.J.|date=October 1944|title=The Locomotive in South Africa - A Brief History of Railway Development. Chapter IV - The N.Z.A.S.M.|journal=South African Railways and Harbours Magazine|pages=761–764}}</ref><ref name="SAR History">The South African Railways - Historical Survey (Editor George Hart, Publisher Bill Hart, Sponsored by Dorbyl Ltd, Circa 1978)</ref><ref name="History">{{Cite web |url=http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/grela/transnet.html |title=A South African Railway History |access-date=2016-05-10 |archive-date=2011-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716122624/http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/grela/transnet.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand also created a super-wealthy class of miners and industrialists known as [[Randlord]]s. Many Randlords built large estates and mansions on the Parktown Ridge.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://theheritageportal.co.za/article/restoring-one-parktowns-greatest-mansions|title=Restoring of one of Parktown's Greatest Mansions {{!}} The Heritage Portal|website=theheritageportal.co.za|access-date=2016-11-23|archive-date=2016-11-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123202758/http://theheritageportal.co.za/article/restoring-one-parktowns-greatest-mansions|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Second Boer War==
{{main|Second Boer War}}
The Witwatersrand Gold Rush had a significant role in the failed [[Jameson Raid]] in 1895-96 and outbreak of the Second Boer War in 1899. Those working in the mines were frustrated at not having full voting rights, protesting about the [[Boers]] to the British government, who also had imperialist desires. This dispute between the British and Boers, became the Second Boer War.

==See also==
* [[Australian gold rushes]]
* [[California Gold Rush]]
* [[Colorado Gold Rush]]
* [[Klondike Gold Rush]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Primary sources==
{{Refbegin}}
*[[Tabitha Jackson]]: ''The Boer War''. London: Channel 4 Books, 1999.
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.miningartifacts.org/South-African-Mines.html South African Mines of Witwatersrand (Images)]
* [http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=hillegas&book=people&story=gold The Johannesburg Gold Fields], The Baldwin Project
* [https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article68709105 The Rand], West Gippsland Gazette, June 21, 1904

{{commons category|George Harrison Park}}

{{Gold rush}}
{{Financial bubbles}}
{{Greater Johannesburg|hist}}
{{Economy of South Africa}}
{{Political history of South Africa}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gold Rush}}
[[Category:South African gold rushes]]
[[Category:1886 in Africa]]