With great respect to the descendants of James Moses Brown (Jim Brown) and John Wells (Jack Wells) and the descendants of the early cattlemen of the Bogong High Plains, together with acknowledgement of the previous Indigenous peoples who enjoyed the area in harmony with the environment for thousands of years, the descendants, of Judge Cope (who have now been found !) and whom are most concerned to ensure that Judge Cope's good name and reputation for humbly serving the people of Victoria for 35 years during the strategic historical Gold Rush period, is acknowledged. Accordingly, a historical note has been added to the Victorian Geographical Names database under Mount Cope to enable a better understanding of who Judge Cope was and some of his achievements which benefited the people of Victoria. Before he became a Supreme Court Judge and Judge in the Beechworth region covering the Mount Cope area, he acted as a Barrister, with his involvement as a key Defence team member in successfully defending the Eureka Stockade "Diggers", as a significant achievement for all Australians. He brought English common law justice to the Gold Fields! Thomas Spencer Cope used his professional training as a Barrister in London to help ordinary people defend their rights, in law, against what was a very authoritarian system in the early Victorian colony.
A detailed response has been forwarded to Mr Ian Stapleton on his Petition to change the name of Mount Cope to Mount Jack, after at least 144 years of being officially recognised by the Victorian Government and the wider Victorian community as Mount Cope.
In a world that still suffers from authoritarian rule and diminishing rights for less privileged people, it is good that at least one mountain, Mount Cope, retains the name of someone who fought for and successfully defended the ordinary people when their legal rights were being so openly challenged!
Judge Cope died on 11 November 1891 (125 years ago). His descendants and other like minded people today still admire his humble attitude to serving the community. Mount Cope helps us to remember. Mount Cope helps us to change our attitude to our neighbour. Mount Cope will make Victoria a better place.