Editing Cecil Rhodes (section)

==Origins==
Rhodes was born in 1853 in [[Bishop's Stortford]], Hertfordshire, England, the fifth son of [[the Reverend]] Francis William Rhodes (1807–1878) and his wife, Louisa Peacock.<ref name=sahistory.org.za /> Francis was a [[Church of England]] [[clergy]]man who served as [[perpetual curate]] of [[Brentwood, Essex]] (1834–1843), and then as vicar of nearby Bishop's Stortford (1849–1876), where he was well known for never having preached a [[sermon]] longer than ten minutes.<ref name="IndependentAug1995">{{cite news |last1=Davies |first1=Andrew John |title=site unseen : Netteswell House, Bishop's Stortford |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/site-unseen-netteswell-house-bishop-s-stortford-1596387.html |access-date=26 February 2021 |work=The Independent |date=14 August 1995 |language=en}}</ref>

Francis was the eldest son of William Rhodes (1774–1855), a brick manufacturer from [[Hackney, Middlesex]]. The family owned significant estates in London's [[Hackney, London|Hackney]] and [[Dalston]] which Cecil would later inherit.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Rhodes Settled Estates  |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/9e2b1c35-c6e2-48a4-b87b-dbd3efa6d684 |website=The National Archives}}</ref>

The earliest traceable direct ancestor of Cecil Rhodes is James Rhodes ([[Floruit|fl.]] 1660) of Snape Green, [[Whitmore, Staffordshire]].<ref name="bodl_Pape">{{Cite web |title=Papers of the Rhodes Family (Hildersham Hall collection) |work=bodley.ox.ac.uk |access-date=4 August 2019 |url= http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/online/blcas/rhodes-fam.html }}</ref> Cecil's siblings included [[Frank Rhodes (British Army officer)|Frank Rhodes]], a [[British Army]] officer.