About
Portuguese-Australian poet, politician, and horse jockey who is best known for Bush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes. His individual poems include "A Song of Autumn" and "The Swimmer."
Before Fame
He was the son of first cousins Adam Durnford Gordon and Harriet Gordon. After spending his youth in Portugal and England, he joined the South Australian Mounted Police in 1853.
Trivia
He had a horse riding accident in 1870 that resulted in a head injury. This event, along with the initial failure of his Bush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes, was a factor in his June suicide.
Family Life
He married Margaret Park in October of 1862. The couple's infant daughter died in 1868.
Associated With
Composer Sir Edward Elgar set Gordon's poems "A Song of Autumn" and "The Swimmer" to music.
