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
Richard Beasley (politician) Landmark Place, Royal Connaught Hotel and Beasley Park, which was also named after him. Richard Beasley Public School, also named after him, is a primary school on Hamilton's east Mountain. Richard Beasley (politician) Richard Beasley (July 21, 1761 – February 16, 1842) was a soldier, political figure, farmer and businessman in Upper Canada. He was born in New York in 1761 and moved to Quebec in 1777. In 1783, he formed a partnership with Peter Smith in the fur trade. In 1788, he settled in Barton Township on Lake Ontario near the current city of Hamilton, still involved in trading