In February 1900, the Ovens and Murray Advertiser published the following paragraph about recruitment of Victorians to fight in the Second Boer War in South Africa -
The work of selecting the 300 men required for the Bushmen's Corps is being steadily proceeded with. On Thursday, fifty recruits were chosen after very severe riding and firing tests, and have been sent into camp at Langwarrin. The task of selection has been no easy one, 1500 men having presented themselves. The hill in the Government House domain, where the rough riding tests have been conducted, has been named "Spion Kop," so numerous have been the recruits who have come to grief. The firing has been done at Williamstown - 20 points at 400 yards with a magazine rifle being the regulation requirement. (1)
The work of selecting the 300 men required for the Bushmen's Corps is being steadily proceeded with. On Thursday, fifty recruits were chosen after very severe riding and firing tests, and have been sent into camp at Langwarrin. The task of selection has been no easy one, 1500 men having presented themselves. The hill in the Government House domain, where the rough riding tests have been conducted, has been named "Spion Kop," so numerous have been the recruits who have come to grief. The firing has been done at Williamstown - 20 points at 400 yards with a magazine rifle being the regulation requirement. (1)
Spion Kop, was the location of a disastrous battle for the British during the Boer War, which led to a large loss of life. Richard Rhys Jones has written an account of the battle, which you can read in full on the Historic UK website here.
On 24th January 1900 during the Second Boer War, in an area about the size of London’s Trafalgar Square, the flat top of a South African mountain became the killing field for hundreds of infantrymen from three Lancashire regiments. The carnage on the peak known as Spion Kop (spelt Spioenkop in Afrikaans, meaning Spy Hill) caused newspaper correspondents to describe it ”An Acre of Massacre.”
After receiving reinforcements until his army in Natal comprised 19,000 infantry, 3,000 cavalry and 60 heavy guns, General Sir Redvers Buller abandoned his plan to lift the siege of Ladysmith by fording the Tugela River at Colenso and instead moved 25 miles upstream to cross the river using pontoon bridges. Once they were over the Tugela river, the cavalry galloped forward to turn the Boer right flank while 16,000 British troops camped under the steep slopes of Spion Kop.
Winston Churchill, reporting for “The Morning Post,” believed that if the cavalry continued their attack they could have broken through the Boer lines and been followed by the main force over flat farmland to relieve Ladysmith 17 miles away. But Buller was reluctant to do so because he feared losing communications over a 30-mile front stretching from the cavalry on the left to the infantry at the base of Spion Kop on the right. Also, at any moment, mounted Boers could break through the extended Khaki Line and attack them from the rear. So, rather than use his cavalry in a wide turning movement, he decided to shorten the route to Ladysmith by pivoting on Spion Kop.
General Buller's decision led to a tragic loss of life - British losses on Spion Kop included 322 killed or died of wounds, 563 wounded and 300 taken prisoner, while the Boers counted 95 killed and 140 wounded. (2)
South slope of Spion Kop, the bloodiest batteground of the war, South Africa, c. 1901.
State Library of Victoria image H2006.149/13 - see full image here http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/331875
It is interesting that less than a month after the Battle of Spion Kop, the hill in the Domain Gardens (3) was colloquially named after the battle. The Ovens & Murray Advertiser wasn't the only report of this hill we could find, but it was the first and the only one from 1900. A year later in January 1901, the Ballarat Star referred to it -
The Fifth Contingent. The Riding Test.
Melbourne, Tuesday. (From Our Correspondent.) The military authorities were very busy to-day examining candidates for the fifth contingent. The riding tests at what is locally known as Spion Kop, in the Government Domain, attracted a large gathering of spectators as usual. The horses used were chiefly belonging to the police force, and they were not very good animals, some of them being pig headed, awkward brutes, and many of the riders had considerable difficulty with them, the falls brings rather numerous. Between ninety and a hundred candidates were tried and nearly 20 per cent were rejected as hardly being up to the standard. The shooting tests will be entered upon without delay. (4)
There were several other references to Spion Kop in January 1901 -
The Herald - The main interest, from a spectacular point of view, was centred in the riding test, which was being carried out in the Domain, on that hill familiar to the public when the Bushmen's Contingent were being got ready at Spion Kop. (5)
Bendigo Independent - The military authorities were very busy to-day examining candidates for the fifth contingent. The riding at what is locally known as Spion Kop in the Government domain attracted a large gathering of spectators as usual. (6)
The Herald - For instance, a man who has passed the doctor and the shooting, but has failed in riding, may be given another chance to pilot a horse over the sticks and round the course on our own Spion Kop. (7)
The Herald - The main interest, from a spectacular point of view, was centred in the riding test, which was being carried out in the Domain, on that hill familiar to the public when the Bushmen's Contingent were being got ready at Spion Kop. (5)
Bendigo Independent - The military authorities were very busy to-day examining candidates for the fifth contingent. The riding at what is locally known as Spion Kop in the Government domain attracted a large gathering of spectators as usual. (6)
The Herald - For instance, a man who has passed the doctor and the shooting, but has failed in riding, may be given another chance to pilot a horse over the sticks and round the course on our own Spion Kop. (7)
Where was the exact location of Spion Kop in the Domain Gardens? A report in April 1901 regarding a fireworks display noted that The site selected for the fireworks display in the Domain is the point of the hill about midway between St Kilda road and the Botanic-gardens. This is the highest spot in the vicinity. (8). I assume this was Spion Kop, but I still can't place the location on any map.
Government House and Domain Gardens, 1873.
Map designed by Joseph Sayce and lithographed by Joseph Bonney.
Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 8168/P0002 https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/83D433BB-F843-11E9-AE98-DFE0CCA56094?image=1
In May 1901, Spion Kop was the site of refreshments for the visitors after the opening of Alexandra Avenue on May 17 by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall (the future King George V and Queen Mary). They were in Victoria to open the first Commonwealth Parliament, which took place on May 9 at the Royal Exhibition Buildings. Alexandra Avenue, was named for the Duke's mother, Queen Alexandra and it was designed by Carlo Catani (see here). The Argus reported -
This completed the ceremony, and, while invited guests continued to arrive, the Duke and Duchess drove on along the avenue towards the east, and, turning into Anderson-street southward, re-entered the Domain and drove back to Government house along the newly made roadways within the Domain. All the guests present and still arriving at the fountain then, at the invitation of Mr M'Culloch, ascended the hill known as Spion Kop, above the avenue, to a marquee when refreshments were provided. Many members of the state Commonwealth Parliaments were among the company, who numbered quite 200. (9)
This was the last reference to Spion Kop in 1901, however in 1910 The Australasian in their 'Notes & Answers' columns published the following, in answer to a query from a reader with the pen-name Spion Kop
"Spion Kop."-1. The first Victorian Contingent were in training at the Flemington Show-grounds.
They were not tested in the Domain, but at the Police Depot, behind the Victoria Barracks. 2.The First Contingent was composed of one company infantry, one company mounted rifles; the infantry were trained in the Victoria Barrack square. All subsequent contingents, second, third, fourth, and fifth, were tested in the Domain before leaving for South Africa. (10). Surely, the pen-name is a reference to the Domain Gardens hill, known for a time as Spion Kop.
This completed the ceremony, and, while invited guests continued to arrive, the Duke and Duchess drove on along the avenue towards the east, and, turning into Anderson-street southward, re-entered the Domain and drove back to Government house along the newly made roadways within the Domain. All the guests present and still arriving at the fountain then, at the invitation of Mr M'Culloch, ascended the hill known as Spion Kop, above the avenue, to a marquee when refreshments were provided. Many members of the state Commonwealth Parliaments were among the company, who numbered quite 200. (9)
This was the last reference to Spion Kop in 1901, however in 1910 The Australasian in their 'Notes & Answers' columns published the following, in answer to a query from a reader with the pen-name Spion Kop
"Spion Kop."-1. The first Victorian Contingent were in training at the Flemington Show-grounds.
They were not tested in the Domain, but at the Police Depot, behind the Victoria Barracks. 2.The First Contingent was composed of one company infantry, one company mounted rifles; the infantry were trained in the Victoria Barrack square. All subsequent contingents, second, third, fourth, and fifth, were tested in the Domain before leaving for South Africa. (10). Surely, the pen-name is a reference to the Domain Gardens hill, known for a time as Spion Kop.
Other places named Spion Kop or Spion Kopje
There is a mountain, in the Bogong High Plains, named Spion Kopje, north of Falls Creek; it is 5,950 feet high. (11). There is another one in the Baw Baws, out of Noojee, which is 3,000 feet high. (12) They are both taller than the South African Spion Kop, which is only 1,400 feet high. (13)
Another interesting location with the name was noted in The Age in February 1926 - the report starts - Amongst railway men the hill between the Melbourne yards and Newmarket is known as 'Spion Kop,' and it has a sinister reputation for shunting accidents. (14)
Acknowledgment - It was my research colleague, Isaac Hermann, who altered me to the article on the opening of Alexandra Avenue by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, and the refreshments on Spion Kop; and that led to this further research.
Footnotes
(1) Ovens and Murray Advertiser, February 17, 1900, see here.
(2) Battle of Spion Kop by Richard Rhys Jones -
(3) Domain Gardens - Alexandra Gardens and Alexandra Park, Queen Victoria Gardens, Linlithgow Reserve, the Shrine of Remembrance Reserve, the Myer Music Bowl Reserve and the King's Domain. It is this aggregation of public parkland traditionally referred to as the Domain - Swanson, Rex Melbourne's Historic Public Gardens: a management and conservation guide (City of Melbourne, 1984), p. 81.
(4) Ballarat Star, January 9, 1901, see here.
(5) The Herald, January 8, 1901, see here.
(6) Bendigo Independent, January 9, 1901, see here; same report in the Geelong Advertiser, January 9, 1901, see here.
(7) The Herald, January 22, 1901, see here.
(8) The Argus, April 6, 1901, see here.
(11) Brunswick and Coburg Gazette, October 17, 1930, see here.
(12) The Argus, December 1, 1923, see here; there was also a timber mill at Millswyn, out of Noojee destroyed by fire in January 1939, The Age, January 12, 1939, see here.
(13) See Footnote 2.
