William Gosse

William Gosse

William Christie Gosse (1842–12 August 1881) was an explorer. He was born in Hertfordshire, England. He moved to Adelaide, Australia with his father in 1850.[1] Gosse was one of the first Europeans to explore central Australia. He spotted Uluru on 19 July 1873 and named it Ayers Rock after Sir Henry Ayers, the Chief Secretary of South Australia. Gosse was not the only explorer in the region at the time. Due to the construction of the Overland telegraph Line, the area was opened up to exploring, and Ernest Giles was also looking for a path to the West. Giles failed on his first attempt and Gosse succeeded by following Giles original track.[2][3]

Gosse died of a heart attack on 12 August 1881, aged 38, after being sick for a long time.

References

  1. Obituary South Australian Register 17 August 1881 Supplement p.2 accessed 10 February 2011
  2. "Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park: Park History". Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Water Resources. Archived from the original on 2007-07-17. Retrieved 2007-07-27.
  3. Ernest Favenc (1908) 'William Christie Gosse' Archived 2012-02-01 at the Wayback Machine, Section 4, Chapter 15, The Explorers of Australia and their Life-work, Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd.