Born in Charlton Kings, England on 19 October 1833, Adam Lindsay Gordon’s adolescence was a troubled one that tested his father's patience once too many times. A position in South Australia was secured and he arrived in Adelaide on 14 November 1853. Though inheriting his mother's fickleness and melancholy, much to Gordon’s credit, he lost no time in his determination to make the best of his new life. Gordon loved horses and whether as a mounted trooper, horse breaker, stockrider or fearless steeplechaser, horses were a central part of his life. While at Penola in South Australia, his interest in poetry was rekindled where he produced much of his material. In 1862, Gordon married Margaret Park (1845-1919), and three years later was elected to the South Australian Parliament (1865-66). After a disastrous land speculation in Western Australia, they moved to Ballarat later settling in Brighton where he took his own life on 24 June 1870. For Gordon, mistakes came too early and recognition too late whose recklessness and daring as a horse rider, open handed generosity and melancholy were ultimately his downfall. But his legacy lives on through his works…

Gordon wrote as he lived and his three volumes of poetry - Ashtaroth (1867), Sea Spray and Smoke Drift (1867), and Bush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes (1870) - reflect his love of bush life, a keen sense of humour but also his battle with depression. Gordon never lived to experience the critical acclaim which his works gained in his adopted country nor did he achieve financial success. His first known published work was in the Border Watch on 30 August 1864 with "The Feud: A Border Ballad". Gordon’s most popular works were his verses "The Sick Stockrider" and "How We Beat the Favourite" which recalls his Gloucestershire youth with its distinctively English feel. And hence lies Gordon’s acclaim as a true poet - his ability, as Douglas Sladen put, to "...appeal to the lettered and unlettered alike, who is popular with the student and popular with the stable-boy". Gordon’s literary reputation continues to be admired…

Not long after Gordon's death, his many friends rallied round his memory and through a subscription, a broken bluestone Doric column was erected over his grave in the Brighton General Cemetery. Later, wattle trees were planted to signify his wish to "...slumber in the hollow where the wattle blossoms wave". By the early 1890s, a small group of admirers began to gather at Gordon's grave to pay homage, an annual event that would grow to over 3,000 persons by the mid-1920s. But it was felt this was not sufficient for Gordon's fame so a fund was opened towards a memorial in the city. In October 1932, a statue by Paul Montford was erected in Spring Street, in what is today known as Gordon Square and the following year a tablet and bust was unveiled in Poet's Corner, Westminster Abbey. There are also memorials to Gordon at Blue Lake, Mount Gambier on the site of his famous leap; and at Manjimup in Western Australia. Two well preserved cottages with links to Gordon are in Ballarat, Victoria and Dingley Dell, South Australia. Gordon's universal popularity owes much to his enthusiastic admirers who long after his untimely death ensured his memory would remain… Gordon's universal popularity owes much to his enthusiastic admirers.