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It is not exactly clear where the family went directly after the Tanami but evidence suggests its members lived
in the Katherine and Adelaide River areas for a while. It is believed they ran a store in Adelaide River during
the First World War before eventually moving to Pine Creek and Darwin. By 1920–1921, Duncan Junior, also
known as Cookie, and Wallace, usually called Wallie, owned a block of land in Darwin where Wallie advertised
his carrier business in Cavenagh Street claiming that all classes of work would be executed and he could deliver
stone, sand, timber and firewood to any part of Darwin. He was also listed in the newspaper several times as
donating to the fighting fund for the men who went to jail over the ‘no taxation without representation’ issue
in 1921. Meanwhile Christina sought and got the licence for the Pine Creek Hotel, where she appears to have
quickly gained a reputation as one of the Top End’s most capable and popular hostesses. Despite several bouts of
apparently serious illness, Christina continued to draw praise as she attempted to expand her business enterprises
and in February 1924 the Northern Territory Times and Gazette reported that, ‘Mrs Tanami Gordon of the Pine
Creek Hotel, who is a signal success as a hostess, intends applying for a public house licence on the left bank of
the [Katherine] river and Mrs Catherine O’Shea is seeking the same privilege at Emungalan.’
It would appear as if Christina abandoned the Katherine plans in favour of Darwin and Pine Creek. In 1926 she
applied for the purchase of the freehold of both the Pine Creek Hotel and the Victoria Hotel in Darwin. However,
although the federal government initially directed that Mrs Gordon’s tenders for both be accepted (500 Pounds for
Pine Creek and 7 000 Pounds for the Victoria), the Commercial Bank, while stating that she was of high integrity,
questioned whether she could run both hotels.
Eventually Christina ended up relinquishing control of the Pine Creek Hotel to another colourful woman
publican, May Brown and Christina took control of the Victoria Hotel, which May had been running for the
past five years. Christina’s marketing skills were highlighted in the advertisements she ran thanking ‘every one
who has visited her and given her generous support over the past five years’ and stating that in taking over the
‘Vic’ Hotel she would offer them ‘a home from home’ in her new ‘large and excellently appointed hotel, which
affords every comfort and convenience to the travelling public [and had] electric light service throughout [with]
only one table—the Best.’
This appears to have been the case and she quickly became involved in other aspects of the Darwin way of life,
including being elected in October 1926 as the only female Vice-President of the Rovers Football Club. She also
began a tradition in the hotel which was to earn her another endearing title, the ‘Aviator’s Mother’. As each early
aviator passed through Darwin, often guests at the Victoria Hotel, she would have them sign their names on what
later became known as the ‘aviators’ wall’. Among the first and most cherished signatures were those of Charles
Kingsford-Smith, Charles Ulm and Bert Hinkler. A portion of the wall still existed in the 1990s inside the Victoria
Hotel complex in Darwin’s Smith Street mall. Christina was also the recipient of many gifts from these record
breakers, including a cap worn by Kingsford-Smith and still in the Gordon family’s possession. Appropriately,
Christina and her son Duncan were later the first civilian passengers to be flown from Darwin southwards when
Qantas first began its flights and, according to the press of the day, they received a hearty ovation both when
leaving Darwin and returning by air a few weeks later.
In early 1928 Christina and other Territory publicans became embroiled in battle with the unions over the
employment of Aboriginal labour, which the unions opposed by threatening the hotels with bans. Christina
eventually agreed to dispense with all but one Aboriginal woman who had been with her for years, since the
family’s time in Western Australia. The issue became controversial with the Northern Territory Times and Gazette
taking a stand in favour of Christina being allowed to employ the woman and the union owned Northern Standard
claiming that this would be ‘the thin end of the wedge’ and could not be allowed. It was happy, however, for her to
house the Aboriginal woman in the next yard and ‘dress her in silks and satins and seat her in the first class dining
room if she so desires.’
Eventually Christina agreed to remove the woman from the premises and the unions lifted their boycott of the
Victoria, suggesting that all union trade should now go there.
A few months later the Gordon family lost one of its main members, Jack, Duncan’s unmarried brother, who
died of pleurisy and pneumonia in September 1928 after a lifetime in the company of his twin brother. A year later,
in August 1929, Christina’s husband, Duncan, suddenly died of much the same illness, leaving an estate valued at
2 865 Pounds.
Although deeply saddened by Jack’s and Duncan’s deaths, Christina, with the help of her sons, went ahead
with her involvement in a new partnership that built the Star Cinema in Darwin’s Smith Street. When it opened
in September 1929, the Northern Territory Times and Gazette reported, ‘A big house greeted the opening night of
the Star Pictures on Saturday last... The comfort of the theatre and its splendid appearance generally occasioned
much favourable comment.’
By October 1930, Christina and her sons purchased the Star, for a reported price of 5 000 Pounds for the land
and buildings and 1 700 Pounds for the motion picture business and the good will. Christina put one of Darwin’s
most enterprising entertainment pioneers in charge as Manager, Tom Harris Senior, and the cinema became a
resounding success.
During the 1930s Christina and her sons continued to buy property in the central business district, including
land adjoining the Victoria Hotel and land on Bennett Street on which they built Gordons Don Hotel. Christina
also bought a block on the corner of Smith and Daly Streets where her son, Duncan, lived after leasing the Victoria
and Don Hotels to the Ferguson family in 1937. When they moved, Christina took with her a large collection of
birds that she had collected during her many years of occupying the Victoria, where the birds had become a much
admired feature by the hotel patrons and travelling public.