On 14 November 1853, Adam Lindsay Gordon arrived at Port Adelaide on the 510-ton three-masted barque SS Julia, under command of Captain GW Britton. The Julia was built only the previous year in Aberdeen by Alexander Hall & Sons for JJ Melhuish.

Besides Lindsay, there were 13 other passengers listed as being on board – Mr Taylor, Mr and Mrs Heegan, Dr Powell, Mr and Mrs Thompson and Mr Mortimor in the cabin; with Mr James Donaldson (District clerk) and two sons Charles and Ebenezer, Mr Bailey, Messrs Haigh (two), Mr Rayson, and Mr John, in the steerage.

Lindsay had just turned 20 during the voyage, on 19 October. The ship had departed St Katherine’s Docks, London, on 6 August.

Lindsay Gordon was met at the wharf in Port Adelaide by members of the Ashwin family of O’Connell Street, North Adelaide, with whom he initially stayed. The Ashwins were friends of Lindsay’s father. Charles Francis Godfrey Ashwin (a draughtsman for the Central Board of Main Roads) had arrived only two months previous and was staying with his older brother Alfred Jenkin Ashwin, an electoral clerk for North Adelaide. Three days later, on 17 November, Adam Lindsay Gordon enlisted with the South Australian Mounted Police as a trooper, despite letters of introduction from his father for a higher position.

Caption: Port Adelaide waterfront, 1848, Samuel Thomas Gill (State Library of South Australia, SLSA, B 3701). The light-coloured two-storey building at image centre is the second customs house, built in 1840.

On 19 October 1833, 191 years ago, life began for the poet of Australia – Adam Lindsay Gordon – in Charlton Kings, a village adjoining Cheltenham in Gloucestershire. His parents Adam Durnford and Harriet Gordon previously lived at No. 5 Columbia Place (originally spelt ‘Colombia’), a lovely terrace in Winchcombe Street (1-6 Colombia Place are now 112-122 Winchcombe Street). On 3 December 1833, Adam Lindsay was baptised at St Mary’s Church, Charlton Kings. For a short time, the family moved to the Portuguese islands of Madeira, where Lindsay’s sister Francesca Clara Ignez Gordon was born in 1837, before they returned in 1840 to Cheltenham, residing at 4 Pittville Villas (now 34-60 Prestbury Road) until 1845. The Gordons then moved to 25 Priory Street (now number 28), a ‘dignified tree-lined road’, close to the then new Cheltenham College where Lindsay attended in 1841-42 and again in 1851-52, and where his father taught Oriental languages from 1846 to 1857.

A few days before his second birthday Adam Lindsay Gordon was given a New Testament by his godfather CT Cooke.

The centenary of Gordon’s birth was celebrated in many places on 19 October 1933, including in Cheltenham, through the efforts of Douglas Sladen, who arranged a memorial tablet outside the Priory Street home, also a memorial for the Cheltenham College which celebrated the centenary, at which Sladen was invited to address the boys on the life and poetry of Gordon. Sladen and Gordon had both attended Cheltenham College.

Back in Victoria, wreaths were laid on 19 October 1933 at the Adam Lindsay Gordon statue in Spring Street, Melbourne, sculpted by Paul Montford, commissioned by the Gordon Memorial Committee. William H Everard, MLA, gave an address at the poet’s statue as did Paul Montford. President of the Gordon Memorial Committee, Charles R Long, also placed a wreath on the statue.

Sladen also co-authored with Edith Humphris the book Adam Lindsay Gordon and His Friends in England and Australia (1912).

Having left England for Australia at the end of 1879 at age 23, Douglas Sladen became an ardent devotee from the first night he stayed with his uncle Sir Charles Sladen in Geelong, when his uncle put into his hands a book of poems by Adam Lindsay Gordon.

Also, on the centenary of Gordon’s birth, Douglas Sladen was instrumental in having a memorial bust installed in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey, unveiled on 11 May 1934, making Adam Lindsay Gordon the only Australian poet to have received such an honour. The bust was sculpted by Lady Hilton Young (Kathleen Scott, widow of the late Captain Robert Scott of Antarctic fame; she married Edward Hilton Young in 1922). The bust was unveiled by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Gordon Lang.

On Friday 5 August 1859, less than two years after her maiden voyage from Scotland, the 209-ton iron-hulled screw steamer Admella departed Port Adelaide just before sunrise on a cold and grey winter morning at 5.30 am, on her usual voyage to Melbourne, under command of an experienced Captain Hugh McEwan. On board were 81 passengers (including 19 women and 18 children) plus a crew of 28 including one woman, a stewardess, and a cabin boy, aged 14. The ship was also carrying a cargo of copper cakes and ingots from the Kapunda mine, plus general cargo.

Also on board, in horse stalls secured on the deck, were six horses, including three racehorses destined for the Championship Stakes in Melbourne (forerunner of the Melbourne Cup).

After rounding Schnapper Point into Gulf St Vincent and the main shipping lanes in and out of the port, known as the Semaphore Roads, a stop was made at the Semaphore Anchorage to pick up three more passengers and a fireman, bringing the total complement on board to 113.

The waters in the gulf were calm that morning and passengers chatted on deck, where the horses became a topic of conversation. About 1 pm the Admella changed course, taking her departure from the Cape Willoughby light on the easternmost tip of Kangaroo Island, steering south-east by south, the same course the captain had taken on his previous voyages to Melbourne.

After leaving the shelter of Kangaroo Island, the Admella was confronted with the first heavy swells of the Southern Ocean. The discomfort of the rolling ship forced passengers below decks but for the horses, being transported in makeshift stalls on the deck, the motion must have been especially uncomfortable. They became quite distraught, being unable to counter the ship’s movement, and one horse was so agitated that he lost his footing on the rolling deck and fell in the stall unable to right himself.

About 3 pm, Captain McEwan ordered a change of course to starboard, away from the coast, so the ship was meeting the waves head on, and reduced speed to four or five knots. This enabled the deckhands and grooms to help the horse back on to his feet using a blanket as an improvised sling. The ship then resumed its previous course for Portland Bay, steaming parallel to shore but further out to sea.

At 4.45 am Saturday, the captain felt the ship’s keel graze the reef, and a following swell lifted her a further 20 or 30 metres on to the reef. Captain McEwan immediately ordered the engines stopped and the boats to be readied for launching. Passengers were hurried up on deck and huddled on the high side of the poop deck. One of the lifeboats was swamped and washed away as the ship fell on its port beam, the other was smashed by the falling funnel and rigging. A small boat on the starboard quarter, high out of the water, had its tackle tampered with by a distraught passenger and it fell end on, smashing its transom.

Within 15 minutes, the Admella had broken into three sections. For those on board it was the beginning of a horrific week, in mid-winter, at the mercy of the elements, as they clung to the wreck with pounding surf washing over them; or slipped to their death from cold and exhaustion. They could see the shore but could not reach it. Several tried and were either drowned or washed out to sea. They had no water and the captain shared out what little food they could retrieve.

A new book, Reef of despair: the story of the SS Admella, is being prepared for publication and will be available soon, describing the tragedy, then the colony’s worst maritime disaster, and the rescue attempts.

Australian poet and horseman Adam Lindsay Gordon made his famous daredevil ‘leap’ alongside the Blue Lake Mount Gambier 160 years ago, on 28 July 1864. He jumped his horse Red Lancer over a post-and-rail guard fence beside the Blue Lake and landed on a small 1.8 metre ledge, with a 60 metre drop to the water, then jumped back on to the road.

Gordon’s comrades on that occasion were Robert Learmonth, William Trainor, and a couple of other friends including John Locke (publican at Port MacDonnell), Jim Galpin and others were out riding the day after Mount Gambier’s Border Steeplechase which Learmonth won on Ingleside, followed by Trainor on Longbow, and then Gordon on Modesty. Each had dared the others to better their feats over certain fences, then Gordon thought he would execute a jump that he thought the others couldn’t emulate. He had no challengers.

However, a young horse trainer Lance Skuthorpe made several attempts over two days, with three different horses, in October 1900. At the end of the second day, on a horse named Wallace, he cleared the fence and landed sideways on the ledge very close to the drop. It is believed the fence was dismantled to return the horse to the road.

More than 17 years after Gordon’s famous ‘leap’, an obelisk was erected near the spot on a rocky ledge between the Blue Lake and Leg of Mutton Lake, where the road runs between. The foundation stone was laid by Gordon’s close friend John Riddoch, of Yallum Park, on 8 July 1887. Erected on a site six metres above the road level, the lower part of the base is constructed of grey dolomite, and the upper part of pink dolomite, while the shaft is cut out of solid granite.

The idea for a monument to commemorate Gordon was instigated by then Mayor of Mount Gambier William Thurston, and the manager of Moorak station Thomas Williams. Subscriptions came from Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, the Western District of Victoria, and all parts of the south-east. The Adam Lindsay Gordon Memorial Obelisk was listed as a State Heritage Place on 29 June 1989.

Caption: ‘The Leap’ by Almar Zaadstra, c. 2020.

Allan Alfred Childs was born at OB Flat in the south-east of South Australia where Adam Lindsay Gordon spent 14 years of his short life. Since taking on the caretaker/curator role at Dingley Dell Cottage and Museum, Port MacDonnell, Allan and Jenny Childs have devoted more than 26 years to promulgating the life and works of Adam Lindsay Gordon. However, Allan admitted than when they took on the lease of Dingley Dell in 1997, they knew nothing about Gordon but, as he had to talk to people while showing them through the cottage, he did some research. With the help of his grandchildren, he was introduced to the computer and the internet … and that was it! He became a walking encyclopedia about Gordon, even taking on the persona of the poet when talking to visitors, and he loved reciting the poet’s work! Allan was instrumental in forming the group Friends of Dingley Dell to raise money for the betterment of Dingley Dell Cottage, and both he and Jenny maintained and improved the surrounding gardens and grounds, earning them the Port MacDonnell Red Cross Award for gardens. Then, in 2001, the cottage received a High Commendation for its gardens in the KESAB (Keep South Australia Beautiful) awards. Dingley Dell Cottage and Museum, the first building to be listed on the South Australian Heritage Register (on 24 July 1980), in 2002 received a $15,000 heritage grant to undertake restorative maintenance work on the cottage, grounds, and the nature trail. Also that year, for his efforts in restoring the cottage and the ongoing preservation of its history and that of Adam Lindsay Gordon, Allan Childs received an Australia Day Citizen of the Year Award. Phone calls to Dingley Dell would always be met with Allan’s greeting, ‘Adam Lindsay Gordon here’! Allan and the late John Adams were instrumental in organising through the auspices of the Penola Cultural Fund and several other local benefactors, a replica bust to that in Westminster Abbey being installed in Penola, in the district where Gordon spent many years. The bust was unveiled in Church Street, Penola, on 26 October 2005 by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr Wesley Carr. This became the Poets’ Corner of Penola, with the addition of the busts of two other Penola poets – John Shaw Neilson and William Henry Ogilvie – unveiled on 2 December 2018. Allan Childs was an inaugural member of the Adam Lindsay Gordon Commemorative Committee formed on 26 January 2006. Its first meeting was held at Dingley Dell on 7 October 2006, when Allan was elected the first President. In June that year was also the inaugural Froth and Bubble Festival at Federation Square, Melbourne, promoted by the Australian Racing Museum and Hall of Fame. This began an annual tribute of laying wattle sprigs at the Adam Lindsay Gordon statue in Spring Street, Melbourne, each June on the Saturday closest to the date of the poet’s death. Allan and Jenny Childs were made Life Members of the Adam Lindsay Gordon Commemorative Committee in 2020, at the end of which year they reluctantly retired from Dingley Dell due to health issues, having served on the committee for more than 14 years. Thanks to their daughter Shelley, Allan and Jenny were able to enjoy a day at the Coleraine races last August, a memorable day for those attending who knew him, and saw him so happy. For Allan’s 80th birthday in 2021, a loving granddaughter Eboni penned a beautiful tribute to him: “80!!! How bloody good are you Paradara?* You’ve shown your 3 children, 8 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren what it’s like to kick ass! You’re a fighter, the head of the family, the leader of your pack. You’ve taught us about the ghost with one black eye, the giant gorilla on the walking track and the bird that couldn’t fly. About how life is mostly froth and bubble, the right way to back a trailer back and to always head to Pa’s when we’re about to get in trouble. But most of all you’ve taught us how to live life to the fullest even when it’s telling you to sit this one out. You’re an inspiration to everyone and there isn’t a day that goes by that we aren’t proud of you! I hope you have the most amazing day and celebrate your 80th birthday in style! I love you always and forever! Eboni.” * Hindi for ‘one who watches over, to keep safe from harm or danger, protector’. Paradara is at rest now, he no longer has pain, but he will be forever remembered. But Allan’s soul will only rest when Dingley Dell Cottage and Museum, which he and Jenny watched over and protected for 23 years, is once again in the hands of genuine custodians who will preserve and promote their legacy, and that of Adam Lindsay Gordon as Australia’s national poet. – Lorraine Day