Francis William (“Frank”) Rhodes was the elder brother of Cecil Rhodes. He was commissioned a lieutenant with the 1st Royal Dragoons in April 1873, and saw action in the Sudan in 1884, at the battles of El Teb and Tamai. In October 1884, he was promoted to Captain and accompanied the ill-fated Nile expedition for the relief of Khartoum as aide-de-camp to Sir Herbert Stewart. He was mentioned in despatches after the battles of Abu Klea and El Gubat, where his horses were shot from under him. As Lieutenant-Colonel, he served in the Sudan expedition of 1888 and in December was present at the action of Gemaiza. In September 1889, he was further promoted to Colonel. From 1890-93 he was military secretary to Lord Harris, Governor of Bombay. In 1893 he was chief of staff on Sir Gerald Herbert Portal’s mission to Uganda, where he nearly died from blackwater fever.

On recovery he moved to Rhodesia, which his brother’s efforts had recently placed under the control of the newly incorporated British South Africa Company. He was appointed military member of the council of four in the government of Matabeleland under Dr L. S. Jameson. He was heavily implicated in the illegal Jameson raid into South Africa - aimed at the overthrow of the Boer Government - in November 1895. Caught and sentenced to death in April 1896, his sentence was later commuted to 15 years’ imprisonment. However, in June that year he was released on payment of a heavy fine. As a punishment for his support of Jameson the Army placed him on the retired list and barred him from active involvement in army business. Immediately after his release he joined his brother in the war in Matabeleland.

In 1898 he joined General Sir Herbert Kitchener’s Nile expedition as war correspondent for The Times. At the battle of Omdurman on September 2 he was shot and severely wounded in the right arm. For his services during that campaign he was restored to the army active list.

He also served for The Times during the South African war and saw action in the early battles in Natal. He was besieged at Ladysmith and after its relief saw further action at Wagon Hill where, under fire, he recovered the mortally wounded Lord Ava. He later served as intelligence officer with the flying column under Brigadier-General Bryan Thomas Mahon and was involved in the relief of Mafeking. He was made a Companion of The Most Honourable Order of The Bath (CB) for his services during the South African war.

In 1903 he retired from the Army and until his death in September 1905 was managing director of the African Transcontinental Telegraph Company.