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Your connection with Scotland in the 1700s, and with pioneers in South Australia in the late 1800s
Jessie & Alexander GORDON - family tree & stories
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 1881 - 1973 (91 years)
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| Name |
Gifford Avondale Clyde ('Giff') GORDON |
| Nickname |
Giff |
| Born |
24 Aug 1881 |
Bordertown, SA, Australia  |
| Gender |
Male |
| General event |
Achievements : Gifford might have the Church of Christ minister at Cheltenham. He studied at the College of the Bible at Glen Iris - possibly one of the founders. He was an outstanding ability as a public speaker - an outstanding orator.
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| Notes for biography |
BIOGRAPHY: From page 47 in 'The Gordons' by Nathlaie & Colin Semmler. This book can be seen with Stories on the left of the home page.
Giff, as he was commonly called, was born on 24.8.1881 at Bordertown, SA.
As a young man he left the farm life behind him and commenced studies at the Church of Christ Training College at Glen Iris in Melbourne, Victoria. It was, presumably, here that he met his wife, Alice Properjohn, as Alice's family came from Melbourne. Giff and Alice had no children.
Giff left Australia to continue with his studies in the United States of America, at Lexington in Kentucky. He then returned to Australia where he served the pastorates of Geelong (1911-1914) and then Prahran in Melbourne.
By 1920 Giff had returned to the U.S.A. and that year he commenced a twenty year ministry to "Youth of America", speaking from coast to coast at school assemblies and rallies. At most of these he strongly upheld the Prohibition Movement. He also lectured on Prohibition in the Quambatook Presbyterian Church (Vic) in about 1924, on his visits to his family. He visited his brother, Athol, in Quambatook. He did not have his wife with him on this particular trip.
Giff's last pastorate at San Dimas, California, U.S.A. His wife predeceased him by seven years. He always referred to her as "my little Alice". He entered a home for retired ministers at Pamona in California. His sister-in-law, Evelyn Gordon (Lin's wife, by then a widow), made several car trips from her home in Arizona, to visit him. Evelyn said that Giff was always happy and grateful for his carers. With failing memory he once preached a whole sermon to Evelyn while she sat at his bedside!
By all accounts Giff was a much-loved pastor and a fine preacher. One of his church members at the Latrobe Street Church of Christ in Geelong, stated on the 50th Anniversary of the church in 1957, that she recalled having to be at church very early to find a seat. The church still displays a photograph of Giff and Alice.
It was a well known fact within the Gordon family that Giff's generosity to the needy, kept him in need himself.
He died in 1973 and is buried with his wife in LaVerne, California, U.S.A.
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| Died |
4 Jan 1973 |
| Buried |
Evergreen Cemetery, La Verne, Pasadena, California, USA |
| Person ID |
I108 |
Alexander & Jessie |
| Last Modified |
26 Apr 2018 |
| Father |
Alexander (jnr) GORDON, b. 4 Apr 1852, Larbert, Stirling, Scotland, UK , d. 21 Apr 1925, Wxx Laurences Private Hospital, Wakefield St, Hindmarsh West, Adelaide (Age 73 years) |
| Mother |
Annie SALTMARSH, b. 28 Oct 1853, Bugle Ranges via Hahndorf, SA, Australia , d. 4 Nov 1932 (Age 79 years) |
| Married |
31 Mar 1875 |
Christian Chapel, Groote St, Adelaide, SA, Australia |
- They might have been married in 1876 rather than 1875.
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| Children |
As well as their own 11 children, they also raised Alexander Duff Gordon whose mother died in an accident soon after he was born and his father, Coningsby, went to America. Baby Alexander was Alexander's and Annie's first grandchild - he was born in 1902, just 8 years after their youngest child |
| Residence |
Annie and Alexander farmed around the Strathalbyn district. They lived at 'Watulunga'. |
| Wedding |
Wedding : Alexander and Annie were married on 31st March 1875 at the Christian Chapel in Grote St, Adelaide.
The witnesses on the marriage certificate were Mary McGREGOR of Alma, Henry SALTMARSH of Lake Plains, and Robert D LAWRIE of Alma.
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| Family ID |
F36 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family |
Alice PROPERJOHN, b. 13 Dec 1870, Capel Farm, Western Australia , d. 21 Jul 1955 (Age 84 years) |
| Married |
28 Jun 1905 |
Mataura, NZ [1] |
| Children |
Giff and Alice did not have any children. |
| Last Modified |
20 Jul 2019 |
| Family ID |
F426 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Sources |
- [S84] Colin Semmler, Email on 10th Sept 2018.
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