William Gosse (explorer)

Australian explorer (1842–1881)

William Christie Gosse (11 December 1842–12 August 1881) was an Australian explorer, remembered for his 1873 expedition to Central Australia, whose purpose was to explore the area south of Alice Springs and west of the Transcontinental Telegraph Line. He made useful additions to the discoveries of Ernest Giles.

Gosse was born on 11 December 1842 in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, England and immigrated to Australia with his father William Gosse, a medical doctor, in 1850. He was educated at J. L. Young's Adelaide Educational Institution and in 1859 he entered the Government service of the colony of South Australia. He held various positions in the survey department, including Deputy Surveyor General. Gosse left Alice Springs on 21 April 1873 with a party comprising Edwin S. Berry (another AEI boy) as second in charge; Henry Winnall and Patrick Nilan, three Afghans (Kamran, Jemma Kahn, and Allanah), an Aboriginal boy named Moses from The Peake. On 19 June they sighted the rock now known as Uluru, which he named Ayers Rock as a compliment to Sir Henry Ayers. They explored it thoroughly, noting caves used as shelters by Aboriginals, and decorated finding a spur along which it was possible for Gosse and Kamran to scramble two miles to the summit, 1100 feet (335 m) above the surrounding country. The horses were suffering through being forced through spinifex grass, and on 17 September he decided to turn back. He was the first European man to climb the rock, along with an Afghan member of his party, Kamran. Mount Conner in the Northern Territory was named after Mountifort Conner by Gosse in 1873.

The logbook of his expedition was praised by Goyder. In 1931, the Hundred of Gosse, a cadastral division located on Kangaroo Island in South Australia was named in Gosse's memory. In 1976 he was honoured on a postage stamp bearing his portrait issued by Australia Post.