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
Joshua Smith (English politician) Northampton. After his death his Erlestoke seat was sold to George Watson-Taylor. Joshua Smith (English politician) Joshua Smith (1732 – 20 March 1819) was an English politician. He was born the son of John Smith, a Lambeth merchant and became a timber merchant himself. He lived at Erlestoke Park, near Devizes, Wiltshire. He became a director of the East India Company in 1771, and was Member of Parliament (MP) for Devizes from 1788 to 1818. In 1766 he married Sarah, the daughter of Nathaniel Gilbert, judge and member of the legislative council of Antigua, with whom he had four daughters.