Rhodesia (region) was first used to refer to the region by white settlers in the 1890s who informally named their new home after Cecil Rhodes, the Company's founder and managing director. It was used in newspapers from 1891 and was made official by the Company in 1895. To confuse matters, Southern Rhodesia, which became a self-governing colony of the United Kingdom in 1923, referred to itself simply as "Rhodesia" from 1964 to 1979, and in 1965 unilaterally declared independence under that name. It thereafter briefly renamed itself "Zimbabwe Rhodesia" in 1979. The usage of the term Rhodesia to refer to the historical
John Blaxland (politician) his death at Ryde, New South Wales, in 1884. John Blaxland (politician) John Blaxland (1799 – 26 January 1884) was an English-born Australian businessman and politician. He was born in Kent, England, to Gregory Blaxland and came to New South Wales in 1805-6 with his family at the age of five. In New South Wales, he became a merchant and businessman. and an explorer who would take a leading role in the first successful crossing of the Blue Mountains. On 23 December 1845, he married Ellen Falkner, with whom he had nine children. He was appointed to the New South