…keeping alive the memory of Australia's national poet
Poet’s Trail – Home
The Adam Lindsay Gordon Poet’s Trail was originally created by John W. Adams
PLACES TO VISIT
The Azores Portugal Madeira Portugal Cheltenham and Charlton Kings England Dumbleton Village England Woolwich London England Worcester England Broughton Hackett Near Worcester Gravesend Docks London St. Katharines Docks London
FROM THE AZORES TO CHELTENHAM ENGLAND
Adam Lindsay Gordon was born at Charlton Kings, Cheltenham on October 19, 1833 . He spent his childhood in The Azores. The family moved back to Cheltenham when Gordon was seven years old.
PLACES TO VISIT Adelaide South Australia Mount Gambier Penola and Yallum Park Port MacDonnell and Dingley Dell Robe Carpenter Rocks Admella Wreck Site Naracoorte Straun House and Caves
FROM CHELTENHAM TO ADELAIDE SOUTH AUSTRALIA The three months’ voyage was a strange time for young Lindsay Gordon. He embarked as an irresponsible boy, who had led a merry and careless life at home, following any fancy that came into his head…
ENGAGEMENT AND MARRIAGE
Maggie and her sister Polly took the coastal boat from Robe to Port MacDonnell, where Gordon met them with side-saddle horses. They rode together for 20 miles into Mount Gambier.
PLACES TO VISIT Bordertown including local cemetery Mount Gambier: – Cave Gardens – Hospital – Blue Lake and ALG Obelisk – Vansittart Park Port Macdonnell: – Dingley Dell and Cape Northumberland
DINGLEY DELL AND OTHER CENTRES
One day while out riding, Adam Lindsay Gordon saw a piece of land beside the beach, and on it, about a mile (1.6 km) from the coast, he found a stone cottage with a shingle roof.
PLACES TO VISIT Williamstown Victoria Bunbury Western Australia Picton Brookhampton Balinup Bridgetown Manjimup
THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN SHEEP VENTURE
Adam Lindsay Gordon, upon meeting Lambton Mount, went into a partnership with him to farm sheep in the South-West of Western Australia, but owing to drought and poison weed they lost over it.
PLACES TO VISIT Coleraine Hamilton Ballarat Melbourne including: – Flemington and Caulfield Racecourses – Spring Street Statue – Brighton General Cemetery and Marine Hotel – The Bay end of Park Street
VICTORIA – THE LAST STAGE OF GORDON’S LIFE “I met Adam Lindsay Gordon in Hamilton, a rather important town in the Western District of Victoria. Gordon and his wife and baby were on their way to Ballarat to take over a livery stable which the poet had secured there.”
THE BEGINNING OF THE END Gordon had begun actively exploring ways to make a living from his writing.
THE LEGACY
The late 19th century saw the formation of a number of clubs designed to stimulate discussion of literature, music and the visual arts.