Park Low Papers PRG 53 Series List

This collection consists of material relating to the life of the distinguished Australian poet Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833-70). It was gathered together over many years by W. Park Low, son of Gordon's widow (nee Margaret Park) who in 1873 had married Peter Low (1844-1926) of Cannawigra near Bordertown.

The collection comprises notes on Gordon's experiences and adventures in south- eastern related to W. Park Low by his mother, as well as several important family letters and photographs and a mass of newspaper cuttings relating to various aspects of Gordon's life and literary works. The material was compiled with the intention of producing a definitive biography of the poet. By writing about 'The Real Adam Lindsay Gordon' W. Park Low hoped to correct what he saw as many of the 'glaring untruths ...appearing in newspaper articles, magazines, books and especially on radio broadcasts about events in Gordon's life’.

However W. Park Low died (in May 1956) before completing his manuscript and as it seemed improbable that the project would be continued by any surviving member of the family, the decision was taken by his son, Mr. E.L. Low, to present the whole of the material - including the partly written biography of Gordon - to the South Australian Archives. ______

Correspondence of W. Park Low. 1 1902-47. 9 letters. Includes a letter received from and a copy of a letter sent to C.R. Wilton concerning the publication of a book of A.L. Gordon's poems.

Correspondence of Peter Low. 2 1874-1917. 6 letters. Includes a letter received from and a copy of a letter sent to Clarison and Massina Publishing Office regarding copyright of A.L. Gordon's works.

Correspondence of Mrs. Peter Low formerly Mrs. A.L. Gordon, 3 nee Margaret Park). 1866-1917. 16 letters. Includes a letter received from A.L. Gordon, April 1867 and a letter from George Robertson regarding publication of A.L. Gordon's poems.

Letters received by Adam Lindsay Gordon. 4 1857-70. 4 letters. Includes a letter from his mother concerning the death of his father and other matters, and a letter from George Robertson declining to purchase his new volume of poems.

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Correspondence relating to Grant Hervey's article about A.L. Gordon. 5 1912-13. 6 letters.

Letter from Adam Durnford Gordon (father of Adam Lindsay 6 Gordon) to his mother. 1815. 1 item. 4p.

Correspondence and other papers relating to Adam Lindsay Gordon's 7 properties at Port MacDonnell and Mount Gambier. 1867-97. 22 items. Includes a copy of A.L. Gordon's Memorandum of Mortgage of land at Port MacDonnell, and correspondence between Peter Low and C.L. Spehr regarding foreclosure of the mortgage given by A.L. Gordon to Robert Lawson.

Material relating to the Esslemont Succession. 8 1870. 2 items. Comprises an account of the Australian Mortgage Land and Finance Company to William Gordon, advocate Aberdeen, and the Memorial for Adam Gordon for Opinion of Counsel regarding the Esslemont Entail. Gordon had believed that he was entitled to inherit the family estate, Esslemont, in Scotland and he had hoped that this would enable him to overcome his financial difficulties. In June 1870, however, he received news that the Esslemont entail had been abolished and that he would not derive any advantage from it.

Selections from Adam Lindsay Gordon's literary works 9 collected by W. Park Low. n.d. 2cm. Includes printed, typewritten and electrostatic copies of A.L. Gordon's poems and other literary works.

Material for a biography of Adam Lindsay Gordon, consisting 10 mainly of typewritten drafts, notes and assorted cuttings compiled by W. Park Low. 1910-47. 2cm. Includes copy of an article 'The Youth of Adam Lindsay Gordon' printed in The Lone Hand, August 1910.

Commemorative certificates and other literature relating to 11 Adam Lindsay Gordon. 1862-1936. 10 items. Includes certificate of marriage between A.L. Gordon and Margaret Park, 20 October 1862 and Gordon's will dated 3 December 1865, as well as programs of annual Gordon pilgrimages and memorial services, and a booklet 'honouring his memory'.)

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'The Real Adam Lindsay Gordon', a partly written biography 12/1-2 by W. Park Low. n.d. (c.1947). 121p. 2 unbound typescript copies. Contains many poems, sketches and photographs.

Cuttings from newspapers and journals relating to Adam Lindsay 13/1-4 Gordon collected by W. Park Low. 1893-1947. 4 folders. Printed.

Photographs and sketches of Adam Lindsay Gordon. 14 n.d. 9 items. Includes a sketch by Gordon of himself and Mrs. Gordon.

Photographs of Adam Lindsay Gordon's grave and other monuments. 15 1870-1934. 13 photographs. Includes photographs of the bust unveiled in the Poet's Corner, by H.R.H. Duke of York in 1934, and Paul Monfort's statue of Gordon near Parliament House, .

Photographs of Mrs. A.L. Gordon (nee Margaret Park). 16 n.d. 3 photographs.

Photographs and sketches of horse riding scenes. 17 n.d. 11 items. Includes original sketches by Gordon.

Miscellaneous photographs relating to A.L. Gordon. 18 n.d. 20 photographs. Includes views of 'Dingley Dell', Gordon's cottage near Port MacDonnell.

Box containing photographs and newspaper cuttings relating 19 to A.L. Gordon and Peter Low, along with a New Testament given by C.T. Cooke (Cheltenham, England) to his Godson, Adam Lindsay Gordon. 14 October 1835. 11 x 1.6cm.

Miscellaneous papers 20 1935. 0.5 cm. Consists of a hand painted scene on a card, signed ‘J.W.C.’ with a note reading ‘The original sketch. Taken from Mrs Low’s album and now possessed by W. Park Low’.

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