William Christie Gosse

William Christie Gosse (11 December 1842–12 August 1881), was an Australian explorer, who was born in Hoddesdon,Hertfordshire, England and migrated to Australia with his father Dr. William Gosse in 1850. He was educated at J.L. Young's Adelaide Educational Institution and in 1859 he entered the Government service of South Australia. He held various positions in the survey department, including Deputy Surveyor-General. He died of a heart attack on 12 August 1881, aged 38, after a long illness.

Although Gosse's exploration was not groundbreaking, he filled in many details in the central map. He named the Musgrave Ranges and was able correctly to lay down the position of some of the discoveries of Ernest Giles. On 19 July 1873 he reached Uluru and gave it the name Ayers Rock. His second-in-charge, Edwin S. Berry (another AEI alumnus) was probably the first white man to climb "The Rock".

Gosse married Agnes "Aggie" Hay (1853–1933), a daughter of Alexander Hay and his first wife Agnes née Kelly (1818–1870) on 22 December 1874. (Hay's second wife, Agnes Grant née Gosse, was William's sister.) William and Aggie had three children:

A brother-in-law, and also nephew, William Gosse Hay (1875–1945) was an author.

A sister-in-law, and also niece, Helen (1877–1909), and her mother (William's sister), were lost at sea on the ill-fated SS Waratah.

Other descendants include former Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer.

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.

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