William Gosse
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William Christie Gosse (1842 - 1881)

William Christie Gosse
Born in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdommap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 22 Dec 1874 in St Bartholomews Church, Norwood, South Australia, Australiamap
Descendants descendants
Died at age 38 in Kent Town, Province of South Australiamap
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Profile last modified | Created 8 May 2011
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Biography

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William Gosse is Notable.
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William Gosse was an Australian explorer.

William Christie Gosse was an English-Australian explorer and surveyor.

England & Wales General Register Office, GRO Online Index - Birth (https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/ : accessed 1 April 2021) database entry for Gosse, William (Mother's maiden name: Grant) GRO Reference: 1842 Q4 in Ware Union, Volume 06, Page 544.

First married Gertrude Ritchie on 8th December 1868
Second married his tep-niece Agnes Hay on 22nd December 1874 (the daughter of his brother-in-law Alexander Hay by his first wife)

Educated at Mr Young's Adelaide Educational Institute and later worked on a station at Stuarts Creek, in desolate outback country on the edge of Lake Eyre. This was not very successful and later William joined the Surveyor's Department as a cadet, where he was posted for trigonometrical surveys in the south east.

In 1868 he married Gertrude Ritchie of Penola but five months later his bride contracted typhoid fever and died.
In 1872 William Gosse was selected to lead a government sponsored expedition of exploration south and west of the centre of the continent and in 1873 he discovered Ayers Rock. He was later made Deputy Surveyor General.
In 1872 William's sister, Agnes Grant Gosse, married Alexander Hay. Two years later William Christie Gosse married Agnes Hay - daughter of Alexander Hay and Agnes (nee Kelly). By this contract Alexander Hay's brother in law became his son-in-law and his daughter then became his sister-in-law. Repetition of names makes the situation even more complicated as Agnes Gosse had become Agnes Hay in 1872, and in 1874 Agnes Hay became Agnes Gosse. Added to which, Alexander's first wife, mother of the 1874 bride, had also been called Agnes (nee Kelly) while the name of the bridegroom's was mother was Agnes (nee Grant).
Even so, with an attachment for familiar names bordering on farce when Alexander and Agnes Hay had a son they christened him William Gosse Hay and when William and Agnes Gosse had a son they christened him William Hay Gosse. These babies were first cousins and at the same time uncle and nephew and born in the same year, 1875.
William Hay Gosse was the eldest of William Christie Gosse's children. The following year another son, James Hay Gosse was born, and a year later there was a daughter. Inevitably it would seem she was named Agnes Hay.
In 1881, William C Gosse became very ill and was granted twelve months leave of absence. Some weeks later, while convalescing, he had a sudden heart attack and died. He was only 38 and his widow Agnes was left with three children under the age of six.
Info. from The Gossesby Fayette Gosse and The Hays of Mount Breckan by A.Laube.
The following item appeared in the Cyclopedia of South Australia.
'Mr. W. C. Goose was born at Hoddesden, Herts, England, in 1842, and came to Adelaide in 1850 with his father, Dr. Gosse, who for many years held a very high place among the medical men of the city. , He was educated by Mr. J. L. Young, and on leaving school obtained a position as cadet in the Surveyor-General's
Department. At a subsequent period he became a member of the staff, which was engaged on a trigonometrical survey in the Far North. He thus obtained an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the general characteristics of that part of the country, and acquired a familiarity with the conditions of life in the bush, which afterwards proved of essential value. His ability and intelligence led to his being placed in charge of an expedition that was organized by the South Australian Government. After his return he was appointed Deputy Surveyor-General, and discharged the duties of that office in a manner that secured for him general respect, until his death, which occurred at the early age of thirty-nine.
The boundless extent of unknown country west of, the telegraph line was such that, had the natural conditions permitted them to follow a prearranged course, several parties might have been in the field at the same time without coming into contact. The expeditions under Colonel Warburton and Mr. Gosse, respectively, left the telegraph-line within a few days of each other, and the intention was that they should cross the unexplored territory along routes some hundreds of miles apart. Mr. Gosse had with him three white men, three Afghans, and a blackboy. His equipment included, besides horses and a cart, several camels supplied by Sir Thomas Elder.
A start was made from the far, northern rendezvous in the latter part of April, 1873, and, proceeding westward, the explorers soon found themselves in extremely arid country. Following the usual practice of leaders .of exploring parties, Gosse made excursions ahead and in different directions to find suitable camping-places to which the main body might be moved, and an advanced depot established. On one of these occasions he was fifty-two hours without water for his horse, which suffered so severely that one of them died. On another he had the extraordinary experience of riding all day through heavy rain, and having to camp at night without water, the sandy soil absorbing the moisture as quickly as it fell. Returning to camp, he found the creek running, and the Afghans persistently defeated in their attempts to induce a camel to cross the water, an incident which illustrated one of the weak points of camel-travelling - the obstinate objection of the animal to wet or boggy ground.
During the month of June the party had reached the western extremity of the MacDonnell Range, between which point and a place which Mr. Ernest Giles named Glen Edith they were fortunate, enough to come across three bullocks which had strayed from Alice Springs, and apparently under-taken an expedition to Western Australia on their own account. From the next depot at King's Creek Mr Gosse made a long excursion to the south -west, passing over sandhills and through spinifex country, each variety trouble-some enough in its way, and, when eighty-four miles out, came in sight of what at first appeared as a hill, but turned out to be one of the most singular natural objects in Central Australia. Mr. Gosse says: -
'When 1 got clear of the sandhills, and was only two miles distant, and the hill for the first time coming fairly into view, what was my astonishment to find it was an immense rock rising abruptly from the plain; the holes I had noticed in some places were caused by the water forming immense caves. I rode round the foot of the rock in search of a place to ascend, and found a waterhole on the south side, near which I made an attempt to reach the top, but found it hopeless. Continued along to the west and discovered a strong spring coming from the centre of the rock, and pouring down some large, deep gullies to the foot. This seems to be a favourite resort of the natives in the wet season, judging from the numerous camps in every cave. These caves are formed by large pieces breaking off the main rock and falling to the foot. The blacks made holes under them, and the heat of their fires causes the rock to shell off, forming large arches. They amuse themselves by covering these with all sorts of devices - some of snakes, very cleverly done; others of two beads joined together; and in one I noticed a drawing of a creek, with an emu track going along the centre.' The huge monolith, for such it seemed to be, rises 1,100 feet above the level of the surrounding plain, and is six or seven miles in girth, being two miles in its longest axis from cast to west. Mr. Gosse gave it the name of Ayers Rock.
This particular excursion was extended to about a hundred and fifty miles from the depot, returning to which an arm of Lake Andrews was crossed, and then camp was shifted to Ayers Rock, where one of the exploring bullocks was converted into welcome beef. Heavy rain was experienced for several days while the party was at the Rock, which enabled Gosse to penetrate still further westward; but difficulties began again as soon as he got beyond the region of the rainfall and into sandy country. Several attempts were made to break through what remained of the desert, but the increasing heat and prevailing dryness made it evident that the lives of the party would be risked without any prospect of success.
The return march was begun on September 22, via the Musgrave Ranges. Useful discoveries of pastoral country were made; the Alberga was struck and followed down almost to the telegraph-line, and Charlotte Waters was reached in December. The expedition had penetrated 600 miles west of the telegraph-line, over country which no white man had previously seen, and, in addition, was enabled to correctly lay down on the map several of the points other explorers had discovered.'

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com: accessed 01 April 2021), memorial page for William Christie Gosse (11 Dec 1842–12 Aug 1881), Find A Grave: Memorial #156990196, citing North Road Cemetery, Nailsworth, Prospect City, South Australia, Australia.

Sources

  • "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NRWX-N74 : 30 December 2014), William Christie Gosse, 22 Feb 1843; citing BROXBOURNE,HERTFORD,ENGLAND, reference ; FHL microfilm 991,309.




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Rejected matches › William Lyman Goss (1845-1922)