Leander Starr Jameson was educated at University College Hospital in London and qualified as a Doctor 1870. After qualifying he was made Resident Medical Officer at the University College Hospital. When his health broke down from overwork in 1878, he went out to South Africa and settled in Kimberley. There he rapidly acquired a great reputation as a medical man, and came into contact with Cecil Rhodes.
In 1895, Jameson led about 500 of his countrymen in what became known as the Jameson Raid against the Boers in Southern Africa. At the trial after the unsuccessful raid he was sentenced to fifteen months in jail, but was soon pardoned. Despite the Raid, Jameson had a successful political life and in 1903 he was recommended as the leader of the Progressive (British) Party in the Cape Colony. When the party was successful he served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1904 to 1908.
He died in London on 26 September 1917, aged 64.
