Medical haversack : Surgeon Captain W F Hopkins, 1st Victorian Mounted Rifles

Khaki coloured canvas haversack with cotton strap. White writing on the front reads "A.M.D" which is surmounted by a red cross. The haversack has two leather straps and metal buckles on the front. There are a number of holes and markings across the haversack and strap.

Used by Surgeon-Captain William Fleming Hopkins while serving in South Africa. Hopkins was born in Maryborough, Victoria in 1864. He studied at the Adelaide University before teaching classics at the Melbourne Scotch College. In 1891 he graduated with an MB and BS from Melbourne University. Hopkins joined the Victorian Rangers Medical Staff in 1892 as a captain, while still working as a resident surgeon at Stawell Hospital. In 1895 he married Rose Margaret Lamond and in 1897 they had a son, Ronald Nicholas Lamond Hopkins, who would go on to serve as a career army officer, serving from 1917 to 1954.

When the Anglo-Boer war started Hopkins was accepted into the First Victorian Contingent as its medical officer. On 28 October 1899 he left for South Africa on board the Medic, arriving a month later. On 12 February Hopkins was involved in an action at Rensburg, tending to the wounded while under fire. Five Australians were killed during the battle. Hopkins later contracted Enteric Fever and was moved to Naauwport Hospital, where he died on 27 March.

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