John Dale Lace

Who was John Dale Lace?

Colonel John Dale Lace was a South African gold and diamond mining magnate and Randlord. He was born in Port St Mary on the Isle of Man.

He was twice married to Josephine Cornelia Brink from Richmond in the Karoo, who died 14 May 1937. He met and married José for the first time when she was in London pursuing an acting career. It is believed that she was proposed to by Cecil John Rhodes, prime minister of the Cape at the time, and was mistress to King Edward VII. It is known that she was mistress to another man Ernest Beckett, 2nd Baron Grimthorpe, with whom she had a son, although she claimed it was Edward VII's son.

The second time, after Ernest Beckett declined to marry her, she and John married in Cape Town and John adopted her son. They never had children of their own. Josephine Dale Lace was a flamboyant Johannesburg socialite who was often seen in a carriage drawn by a team of zebras. The Dale Laces were owners of one of Johannesburg's most prominent historic landmarks, the Parktown mansion 'Northwards', designed by British architect Herbert Baker in 1904.

Just as the gold-mining industry was booming, the diamond market was being monopolised by De Beers, which went on to become the world’s largest diamond company - the dissipation of the Dale Lace fortune coincided with a devastating fire at 'Northwards', and in 1912, the charred remains of the house were sold to George Albu. John Dale Lace lost his fortune and he and José went to live at Boschkop, northwest of Johannesburg.