East Melbourne in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia — Oceania

Adam Lindsay Gordon 1932

Paul Mountford (1869 - 1938)

Adam Lindsay Gordon Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Dean Barton-Ancliffe, May 5, 2026

1. Adam Lindsay Gordon Marker

Inscription. Adam Lindsay Gordon was born in 1833 and migrated from England to South Australia in 1853. A keen and daring horseman, he worked as a trooper in the mounted police and as a horse breaker and is commemorated as a jockey at Flemington Racecourse with three steeplechase wins in one day.

A financial legacy freed him to write. He published The Feud in 1864, Sea Spray, Smoke Drift and Ashtaroth in 1867 and Bush Ballards and Galloping Rhymes in 1870. Though popular, they were not financially successful and he shot himself on 24 June 1870.
He is buried in Brighton General Cemetery.

Paul Mountford was responsible for a number of sculptural commissions in Melbourne, including the four granite buttress groups for the Shrine of Remembrance. He was awarded the gold medal from the Royal Society for his work in 1934. He chose to depict Gordon in an unusually relaxed pose, captured deep in thought while writing, dressed in riding apparel, His saddle beneath his chair.

Two of Gordon's best known lines are inscribed on the pedestal together with his family crest. A dedication by his contemporary, Henry Kendall, in inscribed on

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the back.

Erected 1932.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Colonial Era • Entertainment • Sports. A significant historical year for this entry is 1932.

Location. 37° 48.739′ S, 144° 58.422′ E. Marker is in East Melbourne, Victoria, in Melbourne. It is at the intersection of Spring Street and Little Collins Street, on the left when traveling south on Spring Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: Spring Street, East Melbourne VIC 3002, Australia. Touch for directions.

Regionally, it is in Oceania,

in Australasia,

in the Pacific Ocean,

in South Pacific,

on the Pacific Rim,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Stanford Fountain (a few steps from this marker); Scotch College (within shouting distance of this marker); Charles George Gordon (within shouting distance of this marker); Coaxial Cable - Sydney to Melbourne (within shouting distance of this marker); The Windsor Hotel

Photographed by Dean Barton-Ancliffe, May 5, 2026

2. Adam Lindsay Gordon Marker

In front of the Sculpture

(within shouting distance of this marker); Alcaston House (about 90 meters away, measured in a direct line); The Old Treasury Building (about 90 meters away); Bourke Street c1900. (about 120 meters away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in East Melbourne.

Also see . . . Adam Lindsay Gordon. Monument Australia

The statue was erected by public subscription, and combines his love of poetry (book in left hand and pencil in right) with his greater fame (he wears riding boots, breeches and shirt rolled up and under the seat is a saddle and stirrups). Gordon won the Hunt Club Cup, the Metropolitan Steeplechase and the Selling Steeplechase at Flemington all on one day in 1868. He took his own life in a fit of despair at Brighton in 1870. Paul Montford was awarded the Gold Medal at the Royal Society of Britain Sculptors for the finest piece of sculpture in 1934, but not before he had corrected the modern hexagonal pencil to a round draughtsman's pencil of the period.

(Submitted on May 8, 2026, by Dean Barton-Ancliffe of Rowville, Victoria.)

Inscription on the Front image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Dean Barton-Ancliffe, May 5, 2026

3. Inscription on the Front

"Of the works in His hand
by the sea or by the land
The horse may at least rank second."

The Inscription on the Right image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Dean Barton-Ancliffe, May 5, 2026

4. The Inscription on the Right

He sang the first great songs
these lands can claim
To be their own. ----- Kendall.

The Inscription on the Left image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Dean Barton-Ancliffe, May 5, 2026

5. The Inscription on the Left

"Two things stand like stone:
Kindness in anothers trouble.
Courage in our own.

Credits. This page was last revised on May 9, 2026. It was originally submitted on May 8, 2026, by Dean Barton-Ancliffe of Rowville, Victoria. This page has been viewed 11 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on May 8, 2026, by Dean Barton-Ancliffe of Rowville, Victoria. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.