Born in Montfort Quebec 1907, died in Mwadui, Tanganyika (Tanzania) 1958. Considering that he established what was then the first major diamond mine in Africa outside of South Africa, very little has been written about Dr John Williamson. The only book that African Mining has come across is The Diamond Seeker published in 1976 by Macmillan South Africa. The author (whose identity is not known, at least to African Mining) wrote under the nom-de-plume John Gawaine and admits that his treatment is semi-novelistic.
	A statue of Dr Williamson at Mwadui with, in the background, the baobab tree under which he reputedly made his original find. The tree was located in the “halo” of the kimberlite. The excellent gardens which are a feature of Mwadui were originally created in Williamson’s day. Despite a somewhat lurid dustcover, the book is very readable and gives a good account of Williamson’s life. Williamson, who was born in Montford, Quebec, in 1907, initially intended to study law at McGill University but transferred to geology after accompanying a friend on a field outing. He was successively awarded a BA, an MSc and a PhD and soon after completing his studies in 1933 accompanied his professor, Dr Richard Graham, on a trip to South Africa. He liked Africa so much that he stayed on, taking a job with Loangwa Concessions, a De Beers subsidiary, operating in the then Northern Rhodesia. He later joined the Mabuki diamond mine south of Lake Victoria, which he eventually – around 1936 – bought from the owners after they had decided to close it down. Four years later he made his great discovery near Shinyanga. A lifelong bachelor (although also, apparently, something of a womaniser), Williamson spent the remainder of his life building up and managing the Mwadui mine. By the 1950s he was reputedly one of the richest men in the world. On his early death in 1958 from cancer, his beneficiaries were his brother and two sisters. They sold the mine to De Beers and the Tanganyika Government for more than £4 million. According to Gawaine, Williamson was a difficult man in many respects, used to getting his own way and taciturn to the point of secretiveness. But, as he writes, he was probably the last of the great diamond pioneers. “Certainly he was the only man in the 20th century who discovered, developed and maintained from his own resources, without recourse to outside financial assistance, a diamond mine which was to assist in transforming the economy of a backward country and the lives of many people of diverse races.” From an article by Arthur Tassell – Williamson a bright future ahead? (African Mining).