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Christina Wallace was born in 1863, probably in England. She spent her childhood in Queensland, and in 1887 she married Duncan
Gordon, of
Gordonvale, near
Cairns. For the rest of Christina’s life she was to be the dominant figure in a family business partnership, which included Duncan’s brother Jack (died 1928), and her sons after Duncan’s death in 1929.
In the late 1890s the Gordons crossed overland to the Western Australian goldfields; they won a contract to build a section of the WA
dingo fence; then in about 1909 they went to the new goldfield at Tanami - where Christina was the only white woman. It is reputed that the Gordons did
well at Tanami. Christina was often later referred to as "Mrs Tanami
Gordon."
By about 1918 the Gordons had moved to
Darwin, where Christina for a time ran a cafe in Cavenagh Street. Then she took on the
Adelaide River railway refreshment rooms before going to
Pine Creek to run the Playford Hotel as a lessee from the government, which then owned all Top End hotels.
Later, Christina took over the
Victoria Hotel in
Darwin. She turned the Vic into a first class hotel, and developed its aviation connection - she was the first passenger on a commercial aviation service south from
Darwin. She ran the hotel on very strict lines. Formality prevailed - coats had to be worn in the dining room.
In 1928 Christina joined the syndicate which built the Star cinema, opened in 1929. In 1930 she bought the cinema outright and brought Tom Harris (senior) to
Darwin to run it.
Soon after, the
Gordon family bought the Don Hotel (at the corner of Bennett and Cavenagh Streets,
Darwin), which had been built by Harold Snell. There had been a cinema on the site since 1912, called “The Don” by first proprietor George Wedd. The new hotel adopted the old name.
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In 1938 Christina leased out the family’s hotel interests and she retired to a residence in Daly Street,
Darwin. She was awarded the MBE for her business achievements and charitable works. She was evacuated during the war, but she was one of the first civilians to return to
Darwin, again managing the Vic Hotel for a time. She sold the Vic, but stayed on in
Darwin for a time before retiring to
Brisbane, where she died in 1952.
.