RHODES UNIVERSITY, GORY LIBRARY FOR HISTORICAL RESEARCH. LIST OP ACCESSIONS NO. 16. PERSONAL PAPIRS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS OP, OR RELATING TO THE RIGHT HON. SIR JOHN GORDON SPRIGG (1850 - 1915), PRIME MINISTER OP THE GAPE OP GOOD HOPE, 1873-81, 1886-90, 1896-98, 1900-04. GRAHAMS TOWN 1965, ACKNOWLEDGE MS N T The University Librarian wishes to record, most grateful thanks to the members of the Sprigg family for their decision to place this document collection on loan in the Cory Library for Historical Research, and in particular to Mr. J.G. Sprigg, Librarian of the Grahamstovm Library, for his most valuable assistance in assembling and listin g the documents, and for the foreword which follows. FOREWORD This "collection" is a chance survival* By far the greater part was discovered in a dilapidated and mildewed trunk in a tumble­ down woodshed at Cambridge., East London, a ft e r the death o f my Aunt Jessamy Sprigg. Double chance su rvival in fa c t, as I s t i l l have a vivid recollection of the fun my cousins, my sister and I had in tending the bonfire that seemed to go on fo r days in the back garden of Vredenburg, at Wynberg, Cape afte the death of my grandfather S ir Cordon Sprigg in 1915, and o f la t e r comments on the " fr ig h t fu l accumulation of papers" that had to be "cleared up and burnt." How this trunk with it s haphazard contents survived the burning w i l l always remain a mystery. To th is basic m aterial I have added . photographs, letters, press cuttings etc. which have come to me variou sly from my la te fa th er and Aunt Jessamy and from my Aunt Lucilla who lives at Betty’ s Bay. Like most of these "salvage" collections, the present one tells l i t t l e about the person concerned, but I have included what personal letters I could find, as wall as the notes made by the Rev. Ernest Baker in the early 1950*s with a view to compiling a biography of Sir Gordon.' Unfortunately Mr. Baker died before he had advanced far with the project. The Charles M ills letters (which were in the trunk) begin to build up a behind-the-scenes p ictu re of a ffa ir s between the governmeits in Cape Town and London. I t is a p ity that so many o f these le t t e r s perished in the bonfire, and sad to think that my childish hands played their part in this. It has always seemed to me to be a little odd that a man who, in the heyday o f the Cape Colony, from the granting o f responsible government in 1872 to the time o f Union 1910, was ca lled to the the position of premier no less than four times, should never­ theless have been so studiously ignored by the historians and biographers. Perhaps Sir Gordon really was a rather unimaginative plodder as is sometimes claimed, and he certainly was eclipsed by the glamour o f the contemporary names o f Rhodes, Jameson, Kruger, Barnato and oth ers, but why, in that case, put him at the head o f the state not once but four tim es, one of these times falling within the critical period of the South African War? oontd. /### conta. I would lik e to thank Dr. van der Riot o f holes U n iversity for his invaluable advice and. help in putting the collection together in the f i r s t p lace, and to thank both Dr. van der R iet and the staff of the Cory Library for thoroughly revising my rough preliminary work to bring it into line with the rest of the Cory Library material, and for bringing out this "List of Accessions No. 16", devoted to the c o lle c tio n . I have much pleasure, on behalf of the family, in handing th is c o lle c tio n to Rhodes U n iversity on permanent loan to the Cory Library, to be preserved 3°or the future, and to be made available tc those who bona fide arc seeking information. I hope that the material h re presented w ill be of some assistance to historical research in the general sense, but I cherish also the hope that, meagre as it is, this collection may stimulate someone more competent than I to go to wider sources, and to undertake the rather formidable task of making an assessment of a somewhat neglected character who was prominent in the later stages of the life of the old Cape Colo^/. J Sprigg. Fairewood, G-rahamstown, 7th November, 1965. 3 RHODES UNIVERSITY, CORY LIBRARY F O R HISTORICAL RESEARCH. LIST OP ACCESSIONS Wo. 15, - THE SPRTGG COLLECTION. MANUSCRIP TS, PICTURES, PRINTED MATTER, HAPS. MANUSCRIPTS. Lettor to Sir Cordon Sprigg asking him to respond to a toast. London, 15.6.1897. 2p. 8vo. MS 9600 ADEL, Frederick Copy of a letter to Sir Charles Mills, London, 8,2.1888. Ip. 4to. MS 9940 c ABERDEEN Municipal Commissioners Address o f welcome to John Gordon Sprigg. Aberdeen, [71878], 2p. fcp. MS 10,326 ADELAIDE AND D is tr ic t Address o f welcome to John Gordon S prigg, with s ix ty signatures. Adelaide, 29.4.1878. 4p. fcp. MS 10,327 ADELAIDE CAVALRY GORES Address o f welcome to John Gordon Sprigg, A d elaid e,. 29,4.1878. Ip. fcp. ' ’ MS 10,328 AFRICANDER-BOND. Golesborg Branch. Address of welcome to J.G. Sprigg, Colesberg, 10.1.1888. 2p, fcp. MS 10,340 ALBERT DIVISIONAL COUNCIL Address o f welcome to J.G, Sprigg, Burghersdorp, 13.9,1878, 2p, fcp. MS 10,337 ALIWAL NORTH. Deputation Address o f welcome to John Gordon Sprigg, A liw a l North, 20.9.1378. 6p, fop. MS 10,329 ALLEN, Douglas Letter of condolence t p Sir Gordon Sprigg on the death o f Lady Sprigg. Muizenburg, 27.11.1900. Ip. 3vo. MS 9601 ALSTONS, H.H. Letter to J.G, Sprigg, Pretoria, 6,4.1908, lp, 8vo. MS 10,266 AMPTHILL, Lord L e tte r to S ir John Gordon S p rigg, K.C.M.G. London, 21,6.1897. lp. 4to, TS. MS 9602 Letters to Sir J.G. Sprigg, K.C.M.G. London, 1.7,1897 and 6.7,1897. 2p, 4to. TS. + 2p. 8vo, TS. - MS 9603- 04 ANDERSON, John Letter to Sir J.G, Sprigg, covering a letter by Arthur Davidson, [MS 9606], London, 30.7.1902. dp, 4to. TS. MS 9605 AEDEHNE, Ma rga re t Letter of condolence to Sir J.G, Sprigg. The H ill, 26.11.1900. 3p. 8vo, MS 9607 ARNOT, Raymond H Letter to Mr. Sprigg asking .for a photograph for the "British American Club o f Rochester", Rochester, New York, 22.8,1898, 4p. Svo.MS 9608 Postcard of greetings to Sir Gordon Sprigg. Rochester, New York, 12..6,1906,, lp, 8vo. MS 9609 2 ASHBURNHAM, Juliah Letter of condolence to Sir Gordon Sprigg, Claremont, [Nov,, 1900], 4p. 8vo, MS 9610 ASTLE, W Copy of a letter to Charles Mills, London, 22,12,1885, lp, fcp, MS 9871 a ASTHE?, W illiam Copy of a letter to Charles MillS, London, 5,12,1888, lp, 8vo, MS 9972 e ATHENAEUM CLUB Extract from rules and regulations, London, n,d, lp, 8vo. PR, MS 10,3® a AYLIFF, William L e tte r o f condolence to S ir Gordon Sprigg. Grahamstown, 4,12,1900* 5p, 8vo, + envelope, MS 9611 EADEN-POWELL, George Letter to Sir J,G. Sprigg, London, 19,6,1897, lp, 8vo, MS 9612 Copy of a private letter to Charles M ills, House of Commons, 19,6,1888, 3p, 8vo. MS 9954 b i M ILLIE HAMILTON, C.M. Letter to J,G. Sprigg, Downing Street, 9,12,1902, , .lp, fcp, PR, MS 10,311d BAKER, Ada B atrick Letter to J,G, Sprigg, Chobham, 18,6,1897, 3p, 8vo, MS 10,267 BAKER, Ernest L e tte r <tf condolence to S ir Gordon Sprigg, Cape Town, 28,11,1900, - 2p, 8vo, MS 9615 BAKER, Rev, Ernest Notebooks, 1, 2, and 3 comprising biographical material of Sir Gordon Sprigg, n,a, , [1933], 3 notebooks, 62p, + 118p, + 43p, 8vo,MS 9614 Biographical notes on S ir Gordon Sprigg, .n,a, , [1933], 129p, 8vo, + 77p, 4to, fcp , + 27p, fcp, TS, + 8p, fcp, + TS. + 139p, fcp, + TS. MS 9615- MRKER, E.D, 19 L e tte r to S ir Gordon Sprigg on the electio n s* Queenstown, 15,2,1904, 4p, 8vo. ’ ^ ' MS 9620 BARKER, James L e tte r to S ir Gordon Sprigg with a Salvation Army questionnaire attached, London, 30,6,1897, lp , 4to, TS, + 2p, fcp, TS, MS 9621 L e tte r to S ir Gordon Sprigg. London, 27.7.1897. lp , 4to, TS, % MS 9622 BARELY, Arthur • Letter to Mr, Sprigg giving General Gordon’ s views on South A fric a and . Mauritius, Seychelles, 3.9,1886, 7p, 8vo, + TS copy, MS 9623 3ARKLY, Henry Letter to Sir Gordon Sprigg about his grandson, Henry Cecil Alexander Barkly. South Kensington, 27,3,1896, 3p, 8vo, + TS copy + MS 9624 envelope. L e tte r to S ir Gordon Sprigg about his graidson, Mr, Langdon, Lord Rosmead, and S ir West Ridgeway, South Kensington, 25,11,1896, 4p. 8vo. + TS Copy + envelope, MS 9625 MRLOW, Invitation from the Oriental Club to J,G.