"Only Jones"

Full name: Unknown

Aka: "Only" Jones

Occupation: Prospector

“Only Jones” was another celebrated prospector. He was so called because in the pioneer area of Rhodesia he was the only one who had no hyphen to his name. He was a man of vigorous personality and I once saw a letter from him which read as follows: “Who the hell are you? I will tell you what you are. You are one of those ...s who wants a man’s property for nothing. I tell you what you can do. You can ... (Signed) ‘Only Jones’.” (Rosenthal)

"With regard to Barend Vorster he has a beautiful farm about ten miles from Pietersberg, and his fertile brain would soon be developing another scheme, for shortly after this there is a case occupying the time of the Judiciaries at Pretoria. The “Only” Jones v. Barend Vorster Jr and Blencowe. It was a dispute over the ownership of some gold-claims in the Letabi district." (Darter)

• Barend Vorster appears to be Barend Jacobus "Swart Barend" Vorster (1830 Cradock - 1898 Kalkbank) who farmed north of Pietersburg and was a prospector, trekker, big-game hunter, and concession-holder in Rhodesia. In 1890, he was a key figure in the Adendorff Trek (or Adendorff Concession scheme). Alongside Louis Adendorff, Jan du Preez, and others, he claimed a massive concession from Shona chiefs in southern Mashonaland covering a vast area between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers.

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Sources

• Shovel and Sieve. Rosenthal, E. c.1959. George Allen and Unwin: London.
• The Pioneers of Mashonaland. 1914. Darter, A.
• Geni