Editing Cecil Rhodes (section)

== Childhood ==
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2016}}

=== England and Jersey ===
[[File:Cecil Rhodes as a boy.jpg|thumb|Rhodes as a boy]]
[[File:Rhodes Arts Complex and Bishop's Stortford Museum - geograph.org.uk - 592543.jpg|thumb|Rhodes' birthplace, now part of [[Rhodes Arts Complex|Bishop's Stortford Museum]]; the bedroom in which he was born is marked by a plaque.]]
Rhodes attended the [[Bishop's Stortford]] [[Grammar School]] from the age of nine, but, as a sickly, [[asthmatic]] adolescent, he was taken out of grammar school in 1869 and, according to [[Basil Williams (historian)|Basil Williams]],{{sfn|Williams|1921|p=}}{{page needed|date=February 2016}} "continued his studies under his father's eye ..."

At age seven, he was recorded in the 1861 census as boarding with his aunt, Sophia Peacock, at a boarding house in [[Jersey]], where the climate was perceived to provide a respite for those with conditions such as [[asthma]].<ref>{{Cite journal|date=13 September 2018|title=Doctors, dentists and dancers – the inhabitants of bustling David Place|url=https://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&pubid=7e167572-56ec-4878-bdf0-e542f200dd61|journal=Jersey Evening Post|page=17|url-access=subscription}}</ref> His health was weak and there were fears that he might be [[Tuberculosis|consumptive]] (have tuberculosis), a disease of which several of the family showed symptoms. His father decided to send him abroad for what were believed the good effects of a sea voyage and a better climate in South Africa.

=== South Africa ===
[[File:Cecil Rhodes Young Picture High Quality Version.jpg|200px|thumb|Rhodes at the age of sixteen]]
When he arrived in Africa, Rhodes lived on money lent by his aunt Sophia.{{sfn|Flint|2009|p=37}} After a brief stay with the Surveyor-General of [[Colony of Natal|Natal]], [[Peter Cormac Sutherland|P.C. Sutherland]], in [[Pietermaritzburg]], Rhodes took an interest in agriculture. He joined his brother Herbert on his cotton farm in the [[Umkomazi]] valley in Natal. The land was unsuitable for cotton, and the venture failed.

In October 1871, 18-year-old Rhodes and his 26-year-old brother Herbert left the colony for the diamond fields of [[Kimberley, Northern Cape|Kimberley]] in Northern Cape Province. Financed by [[N M Rothschild & Sons]], Rhodes succeeded over the next 17 years in buying up all the smaller diamond mining operations in the Kimberley area.

His monopoly of the world's diamond supply was sealed in 1890 through a strategic partnership with the London-based Diamond Syndicate. They agreed to control world supply to maintain high prices.{{sfn|Epstein|1982|p=}}{{page needed|date=February 2016}}{{sfn|Knowles|2005|p=}}{{page needed|date=February 2016}} Rhodes supervised the working of his brother's claim and [[speculation|speculated]] on his behalf. Among his associates in the early days were [[John X. Merriman]] and [[Charles Rudd]]. Rudd later became his partner in the [[De Beers|De Beers Mining Company]] and the Niger Oil Company.

During the 1880s, [[Boschendal|Cape vineyards]] had been devastated by a [[phylloxera]] epidemic. The diseased vineyards were dug up and replanted, and farmers were looking for alternatives to wine. In 1892, Rhodes financed The [[Pioneer Fruit Growing Company]] at [[Nooitgedacht, South Africa|Nooitgedacht]], a venture created by Harry Pickstone, an Englishman who had experience with fruit-growing in California.{{sfn|Boschendal|2007|p=}}{{page needed|date=February 2016}}  The shipping magnate [[Percy Molteno]] had just undertaken the first successful refrigerated export to Europe. In 1896, after consulting with Molteno, Rhodes began to pay more attention to export fruit farming and bought farms in Groot Drakenstein, [[Wellington, Western Cape|Wellington]] and Stellenbosch. A year later, he bought Rhone and [[Boschendal]] and commissioned [[Sir Herbert Baker]] to build him a cottage there.{{sfn|Boschendal|2007|p=}}{{page needed|date=February 2016}}{{sfn|Picton-Seymour|1989|p=}}{{page needed|date=February 2016}}  The successful operation soon expanded into [[Rhodes Fruit Farms]], and formed a cornerstone of the modern-day Cape fruit industry.{{sfn| Oberholster |1987|p=91}}

=== Education ===

[[File:Rhodes' portrait bust.JPG|thumb|A portrait bust of Rhodes on the first floor of No. 6 [[King Edward Street]] marks the place of his residence whilst in [[Oxford]].]]

In 1873, Rhodes left his farm field in the care of his business partner, Rudd, and sailed for England to study at university. He was admitted to [[Oriel College, Oxford]], but stayed for only one term in 1874. He returned to South Africa and did not return for his second term at Oxford until 1876. He was greatly influenced by [[John Ruskin]]'s inaugural lecture at [[Oxford University|Oxford]], which reinforced his own attachment to the cause of British [[imperialism]].

Among his Oxford associates were [[James Rochfort Maguire]], later a fellow of [[All Souls College, Oxford|All Souls College]] and a director of the [[British South Africa Company]], and Charles Metcalfe.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rhodes the Matrix {{!}} Whites Writing Whiteness |url=https://www.whiteswritingwhiteness.ed.ac.uk/blog/rhodes-the-matrix/ |access-date=24 May 2022 |website=www.whiteswritingwhiteness.ed.ac.uk}}</ref> Due to his university career, Rhodes admired the Oxford tutorial system. Eventually, he was inspired to develop his scholarship scheme: "Wherever you turn your eye—except in science—an Oxford man is at the top of the tree".{{sfn|Alexander|1914|p=259}}

While attending Oriel College, Rhodes became a [[Freemasonry|Freemason]] in the [[Apollo University Lodge]]. Although initially he did not approve of the organisation, he continued to be a [[Freemasonry in South Africa|South African Freemason]] until his death in 1902. The shortcomings of the Freemasons, in his opinion, later caused him to envisage his own secret society with the goal of bringing the entire world under British rule.{{sfn|Thomas|1997|p=}}{{page needed|date=February 2016}}