Adam Lindsay Gordon and the Craft Cottage
Poet, horseman, and a lasting cultural legacy in Ballarat
Adam Lindsay Gordon is remembered as one of Australia’s most distinctive 19th-century poets, celebrated for his vivid ballads of horses, hardship, and the open air.
Adam Lindsay Gordon
Adam Lindsay Gordon was born on 19 October 1833 in Fayal, in the Azores. Educated in England, he showed talent in sport but little inclination for formal study, and was known for his undisciplined nature.
In 1854, his father sent him to Australia in the hope that Gordon might build a more stable and productive life. He arrived in Adelaide in November of that year and went on to pursue many occupations — including police officer, poet, boxer, horse breaker, steeplechase jockey, parliamentarian, manager, and businessman — though with mixed success.
At the age of 29, Gordon married Margaret Park, then 17. An inheritance from his mother’s estate enabled him to publish his early writing, including The Feud (1864), followed by Ashtaroth, Sea Spray, and Smoke Drift in 1867.
Gordon and Ballarat
Gordon’s interest in steeplechase racing brought him to Ballarat in the 1860s. During this period, he spent time in the district in connection with racing and the social networks associated with the sport.
Contemporary newspaper records show that while Adam Lindsay Gordon did not live in or manage the buildings associated with Craig’s Hotel, he did have a documented connection with the hotel itself. Gordon’s name appears regularly in Ballarat newspapers during the late 1860s, and he spent considerable time at Craig’s Hotel in his role as secretary of the Ballarat Turf Club, as the hotel was the usual place for horses to be entered in the regular races held at Dowling Forest.
While in Ballarat, Gordon also became a senior sergeant in the Ballarat troop of light horse. These pursuits, closely linked to status and expense, contributed to ongoing financial strain.
Tragedy struck when Gordon’s daughter Annie died from infection at just eleven months of age. She was buried in the Ballarat Old Cemetery before later being reinterred in Brighton. Gordon and his family left Ballarat in October 1868.
Final Years and Literary Legacy
Gordon continued racing and writing in Melbourne, but a serious fall at Flemington in March 1870 left him with a head injury from which he never fully recovered. On 23 June 1870, his final book, Bush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes, was published — the same day he learned that his claim to the Esslemont Estate in Scotland had failed.
Overwhelmed by debt and despair, Gordon took his own life the following morning near his home in Brighton, where he is now buried.
His poetry, marked by rhythm, resilience, and a deep connection to horses and the landscape, holds a permanent place in Australian literature.
Kindness in another’s trouble,
Courage in your own.
— from “Ye Wearie Wayfarer”
The Cottage and Its History
In 1933, the centenary of Adam Lindsay Gordon’s birth, F.J. Martell, former Principal of the Ballarat School of Mines, initiated efforts to preserve a cottage believed at the time to be associated with Gordon.
The building, then located in Bath Street, was relocated to the Ballarat Botanical Gardens with financial support from Mr R. A. Crouch. The firm A & G Quayle dismantled the structure in numbered sections and reconstructed it near the fernery. The Ballarat Courier documented the project between March and August 1934.
The cottage was officially opened by the State Governor, Lord Huntingfield, on 15 August 1934.
Subsequent research by the City of Ballarat has since clarified that Adam Lindsay Gordon did not reside in this building. The cottage is now understood as a commemorative structure, reflecting the strong desire of the 1930s community to honour Gordon’s life and legacy.
The Craft Cottage Today
In March 1992, the Crafts Council of Ballarat opened the cottage as a retail and exhibition space for locally produced arts and crafts. Staffed entirely by volunteers, the Cottage allows members to sell their work, with all proceeds supporting the operation and upkeep of the building.
Displays change regularly in response to seasons and participating artisans. Members are actively involved in major community events, including the Begonia Festival, Seniors Festival, and Children’s Week, as well as workshops and demonstrations held within the Gardens.
Crafts Council members share responsibility for the presentation of the Cottage, the quality of work offered for sale, and customer experience. The roster system encourages direct interaction between artists and visitors — an exchange valued by both.
Each year, the Crafts Council presents a themed exhibition in the Conservatory in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens. Previously held in June, the exhibition will now commence from September, beginning on the weekend of the AFL Grand Final public holiday. The exhibition provides members with an opportunity to explore a different theme each year and to create larger or more experimental work than is typically shown in the Craft Cottage.
The Crafts Council of Ballarat welcomes new members who live locally and are able to participate in the Cottage roster.
Interested in becoming a member?
If you are interested in becoming a member of the Crafts Council of Ballarat, please contact us via the Contact page to discuss membership and participation in the Craft Cottage.