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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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 1891 - 1962 (70 years)
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| Name |
Roy Dudley Strathern GORDON |
| Born |
19 Nov 1891 |
Point Sturt, SA, Australia  [1] |
| Gender |
Male |
| General event |
Biography : The best account of Roy's life is page 57 in 'The Gordons' by Nathalie & Colin Semmler. This book can be seen in STORIES on the left of the home page.
Roy was born on 19.11.1891 at Point Sturt. Like his older brothers he was brought up to a life of farming and knew little of other occupations. Roy took a great interest in cricket at a young age, and in March 1909 he and his father, Alexander, along with his seven brothers, played a cricket match against the Milang Team (see details in Alexander Gordon biography). In his early twenties, Roy spent some time working and living in Geelong, Victoria, with his mother who was living there while a new home was being built on the farm. Their old home had been destroyed by a fire. It was while he was at Geelong that he met and married Jessie Aldis, in 1915.
In about 1917 Roy and Jessie moved to the mallee country in South Australia with their first child, Gwen. Roy share-farmed for a year, and following a bumper harvest he was advised to buy a farm of his own. He bought a farm called "Waverley", in the Wanbi district, about forty kilometres from Loxton. Unfortunately there were no more bumper years. Roy eventually lost the farm and the family moved onto "Huntley Brae" which was the farm that was owned by Roy's brother, Athol, and which had been vacant for a while. He tried to eke out a living by keeping sheep and cattle, but again did not prosper.
Eventually Roy was offered a job at the "Amscol" Ice Cream factory in Adelaide, so moved there in 1927. By this time he and Jessie had four children. The job at the ice cream factory did not last for long as many workers were put off when the Great Depression hit. By this time there was another baby on the way, and Roy had to leave home for long periods to look for work.
By the time that their last baby was born in 1931, Roy was working at a chaff mill. Here he was earning the bare basic wage, which, with a family of seven children was really below the bread line. Then in 1934, tragedy struck when he lost his left arm to just above the elbow in an accident at the mill.
After he had recovered Roy bought a horse and cart and attempted to earn a living by selling fruit and vegetables around the streets in the area in which he lived. This venture did not succeed, but at around this time he received his compensation money from his accident, and he and Jessie bought a milk bar/delicatessen. This could have been quite successful, except for a diphtheria epidemic which was wrongly blamed on the shop, and as a result the custom dropped away. They had also allowed credit to some customers and never received payments. The cost of recovery would have been a greater amount than the debts.
Roy was always known as a very hard worker, but because of his ill health had to retire well before the usual retirement age. He died suddenly in 1962, a few months after his 70th birthday. He is buried at Cheltenham, in Adelaide.
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| Died |
13 Feb 1962 [1] |
| Buried |
Cheltenham, SA, Australia [1] |
| Person ID |
I113 |
Alexander & Jessie |
| Last Modified |
9 Apr 2014 |
| 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 |
Jessie May ALDIS, b. 6 Nov 1895, d. 30 Aug 1962 (Age 66 years) |
| Married |
27 Sep 1915 |
| Children |
| + | 1. Gweneth Carol GORDON, b. 25 Dec 1915, d. 2009 (Age 93 years) |
| + | 2. Laurence Keith GORDON, b. 25 Dec 1915, d. 1989 (Age 73 years) |
| + | 3. Mary Farquher GORDON, b. 7 Mar 1923, d. 23 Mar 2010 (Age 87 years) |
| + | 4. Dennis McLeod GORDON, b. 29 Mar 1925, d. 17 Aug 1991 (Age 66 years) |
| | 5. Dudley Garth GORDON, b. 16 May 1927, d. 14 Jun 1981 (Age 54 years) |
| | 6. Laurel Lindsay GORDON, b. 24 Aug 1928, d. 17 May 2011 (Age 82 years) |
| + | 7. Patricia Anne GORDON, b. 25 Jul 1931 |
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| Last Modified |
20 Jul 2019 |
| Family ID |
F158 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Sources |
- [S67] 'The Gordons' by Nathalie Semmler & Colin Semmler, 1997, Page 32.
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