4 May 1933

ADAM LINDSAY GORDON

Little Known Facts Of The Poet

Among South Australia's Pioneers, the name of Adam Lindsay Gordon, Poet, Horse-breaker, and Legislator is justly honored. In the South-East districts of the State there are many reminders of his horsemanship, while his poems are treasured by thousands.

Though annually thousands of tourists pass through the picturesque little village of Robe, which has won renown as a summer resort, very few of them ever give a second glance at the faded lettering on the front of what is now a private residence. The words, which are now barely decipherable, are 'The Criterion Hotel,' and it was in this building that Australia's greatest poet courted and won his bride.

Adam Lindsay Gordon spent several years of his life breaking in horses in the Robe district, and it was his practice to stay at the Criterion Hotel when in town. Though famed for his fearlessness and wonderful horsemanship, Gordon was exceedingly short-sighted, and owing to this handicap he at one time experienced a severe fall, and received serious injuries from which he never fully recovered, and which ultimately contributed largely to his untimely death.

During convalescence Gordon remained at the Criterion Hotel, where he was nursed and tended by a member of the staff (Miss Maggie Park). The kindness and beauty of Miss Park so strongly appealed to the poet that as soon as he regained his health he proposed, and was accepted. After an engagement of only one week, Gordon and his betrothed rode 80 miles to Mount Gambier, where they were united by the Rev. Mr. Don. Although the marriage would appear to have been rather hasty, it was by no means a case of repent at leisure, for Gordon was deeply devoted to his wife, a devotion which, coupled with the after effects of his fall and financial worries, brought such a tragic climax to the life of this truly great man.

Gordon passed through many vicissitudes, but misfortune seemed ever to dog his footsteps. The son of an English army captain, who served with distinction in India, the high spirits of the temperamental young poet chafed under the conventionalities of society to such an extent that he decided to emigrate to Australia. Though carrying a number of letters of introduction from influential men, Gordon, with characteristic independence, made no use of them, and shortly after arrival in Australia he joined the mounted police. While a member of the force he was engaged on the South Australian gold escort, and passed through many exciting and dangerous experiences, but eventually left the force because he was called upon to clean the boots of a superior officer.

After this Gordon became a horse-breaker and trainer, a life which held much that appealed to him. Two years after his marriage Gordon inherited £7,000, and became the holder of a considerable quantity of land. In 1865, after considerable inducement, he became a member of Parliament, but although he endeavored to give every attention to his duties, and made several remarkable clever speeches, he was not particularly interested In politics, and at the following elections did not contest his seat.

Unfortunately, Gordon did not make a success on the land, and his holdings rapidly diminished, until finally he sold all that remained, and set up a livery business, which also proved a failure, and gradually he drifted back into racing circles. Another small legacy enabled him to pay off his liabilities entailed through the livery business.

For the remainder of his life poor Gordon depended upon the turf for a living, and became famed for his daring and skill as a steeplechase rider. Though he loved a good horse and a clean race, he detested the life that was forced upon him, because it threw him into contact with the human parasites at that time connected with the game, but he could find no other way to eke out subsistence.

Occasionally Gordon contributed prose and poetry to various papers, and the ready acceptance of his contributions caused the unhappy poet to dream of success in that direction, dreams which, but for the tragic termination of his life at the age of 37, would certainly have materialised. In 1859 it was discovered that Gordon had an excellent claim to a large estate, and an income of £2,300 a year, which had been left by Charles Napier Gordon. Legal investigation raised Gordon's hopes to a high level, but after long anxious months of waiting they were dashed to the ground, for it was discovered that his claim was rendered void by the Entail Act.

After this cruel blow a dark cloud of despair seemed to settle on poor Gordon. Not that he was of a covetous nature, the very opposite, but legal investigations had led to considerable expenditure, and he found it impossible to meet the demands of his creditors or provide for his cherished wife. All his life Gordon had been of an abstemious nature, but was subject to violent headaches, and to overcome these he occasionally drank a few glasses of spirits. These head aches were after-effects of the fall which had been the means of introducing him to his wife. Owing to head injuries he had received in his fall, Gordon was very easily affected by spirituous liquor, under the influence of which he invariably became very depressed and excitable. Shortly after notification that his claim was null and void, Gordon had one of his attacks, and drank several glasses of spirits, which had the effect of deepening his despair to such an extent that he arrived at his terrible decision. Early the following morning, Friday, June 24. 1870, he arose, and after kissing his beloved wife took a rifle and walked out to his death.

Thus ended the life of Australia's great poet, who gave so much to the world, and received so little in return. Though he died bankrupt, Gordon left greater things than riches to perpetuate his memory. In the lonely Brighton Cemetery the mortal remains of the poet rest beneath a massive monument, which supports a broken column, symbolical of the life cut off so abruptly and so tragically.

A Narrow Escape.

— When we think of the privations endured by our early pioneers we can understand how, when faced by death, they greeted him with a laugh and, if they escaped his clutch, they remembered the adventure as a mere ordinary incident.

These sort of people are to be found in our far outback today, but in the early days few knew the art of first aid as taught today, and operations were rough and ready. One man had his arm amputated with a hatchet.

My grandfather, Mr. Anders Helberg, was one of the early pioneers at Point McLeay, Lake Alexandria, and he tells many interesting stories. One morning, about the year 1870, he agreed to take his workman from Point McLeay to Point Sturt, which lies on the other side of the lake.

Having completed his journey in safety, he waited for the afternoon to bring a favorable wind for his return. He had only an old tub of a boat which he borrowed from a neighbor. It was very wide, and, having no keel, resembled a tub to a very great degree; it leaked badly into the bargain.

One farmer's wife was to have made the return trip with my grandfather, but fortunately she changed her mind at the last moment, probably at the sight of the boat.

On the wind swinging to the north, Mr. Helberg set sail for Point McLeay. This trip the boat was leaning to the other side, and when about half-way across water began to pour in. With one hand on the tiller he bailed frantically with the other. His knowledge of the depths of the lake stood him in good stead. Turning the nose of the boat towards Red Hill, an old blacks' cemetery, he knew he would strike a spit which ran out from that place.

When within about half a mile of the beach he observed two blacks walking along the shore, and he was just going to haul down the jib and run into the wind so as to be able to leave the tiller for a space and bail with both hands, when a puff of wind upset the boat.

Like a duck, my grandfather came to the surface, and as he was by now on the sand-spit the depth was only a few feet. Diving underneath he made everything fast and was just going to swim for shore when he saw the two blacks bringing a dinghy out to him. Next day, with helpers, the boat was recovered with not a thing missing.

About a year after that the old tub went to its "haven under the hill," taking four human beings with it. A gay party of two boys and two girls who were about 18 or 19 was crossing from Point Sturt to Milang in the old boat. Perhaps they were having a little harmless fun or 'larking about,' as my grandfather says, and the old boat again upset, this time on Reedy Point, where the mud is tenacious and sticky. The old tub is there to this day, but four new mounds of earth announced the pitiful accident.

Tents As Dwelling Houses.

— A striking illustration of the conditions under which the early colonists lived, and the anomalies of the law when applied to such communities is supplied by the following remarks made by Sir John Jeffcott, "Chief Judge of the Province," in the year 1837. His Honor was charging one "James Gordon" with the offence of breaking and entering a dwelling house with felonious intent. As the dwelling house under question consisted of a tent, a technical point had been raised as to the meaning of the term "dwelling house." His Honor said,

"This offence is, as you know, that of breaking and entering a dwelling house at night with felonious intent. Involved is a question of law as to the meaning of the term dwelling house, and it is one which in the present state of the province I consider to be of considerable importance as regards the security of life and property. It is whether the huts and tents in which the great body of our population now reside, while more permanent residences are jetting up, are to be considered as dwelling houses for the purpose of burglary. Upon this subject I have no hesitation in saying that a tent or hut in which an owner or his family and servants reside by day and sleeps by night, which is in fact his fixed, though temporary, residence, is to be considered a dwelling house within the meaning of the law. It has been ruled in England that a tent or booth at a fair is not to be considered a dwelling house, in which a burglary can be committed. This was, however, because it was not a permanent address, but got up for a temporary purpose, not slept in by night and only used by day. It has, however, been held by equally high authority that a tent or booth used only for the purpose of a fair, but in which during each night of the fair the prosecutor and his wife slept was to be considered as their dwelling house. With how much greater reason are the tents and huts in which the greater part of our population have, as I have already stated, their fixed though temporary abodes to be considered as coming within the definition. Were it otherwise there would, as I have said before, be no security for either life or property in the state in which we are now."

See also What Constituted Burglary In 1837?

Girls' Big Trek.

— Behind a recent wedding at Spalding lies a strange story of two English girls. The bride concerned came to Australia a few years ago, and for a time worked in Melbourne.

After a few months, rather than face the prospect of unemployment, she decided to walk to Sydney with an English girl friend.

Unable to obtain employment in Sydney the pair hiked unconcernedly to Brisbane. Here, the same disappointing prospects were encountered.

However, these brave girls determined to walk to Darwin. They had travelled a considerable distance on their journey before bushmen persuaded them that they had undertaken an almost impossible task.

After touring the eastern States they decided to try their luck in South Australia. Here real romance was to enter both their lives. The girl friend soon married, and her companion, after filling a number of positions in this State, came to Spalding, and so one day met her husband-to-be, who was working on a farm ten miles distant.

Not having any other way of visiting his sweet heart, the swain trudged the ten miles every Sunday for weeks. With his engagement there came to the young man in true story-book style news of a legacy bequeathed him by some relative in England. — 'The Kangaroo,' Spalding.

Real Life Stories Of South Australia (1933, May 4). Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), p. 18. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article90885473