Dr. William Gosse was born in Carbonear, Newfoundland, where his father John Gosse Sr. was a partner in the firm of Gosse, Pack & Fryer. The family left for Poole, in Dorsetshire, United Kingdom around 1817. He was educated at Mr. Buller's school at Southampton, then commenced medical studies with a Mr. Salter in Poole. He entered Guy's Hospital as a pupil of his brother-in-law, the surgeon Mr. Morgan. He set up a practice in Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire, where he married Agnes Grant, of London. They remained there for fifteen years, then left for Australia, hoping the warmer climate would improve his bronchitis. They landed in Melbourne in 1850, but only remained there a week or so, and moved to Adelaide, arriving on 31 December 1850. In 1851 he joined the rush to the Victorian gold diggings, but soon returned empty-handed to South Australia. He next went into partnership with Dr. Benjamin Archer Kent, for whom Kent Town is named. In 1853 he was appointed Colonial Surgeon, having the supervision of the Hospital, the Lunatic Asylum, and the Gaol. On resigning that position in 1857 he joined Dr. Anton Bayer and continued in practice with him until the latter's death in 1866. He then entered into partnership with Dr. H. Thomas Whittell and, apart from a time around 1870 when he travelled to London to receive his F.R.C.S. diploma and to Heidelberg to receive his M.D., remained with him until 1873, when he was joined by his son, Dr. Charles Gosse, newly returned from gaining qualifications in Britain. He was elected to the Adelaide Hospital's first Board of Management and also appointed as honorary surgeon, a position he held until 1876 when he retired, and was appointed consulting surgeon.
Interests
In his youth he had an interest in natural history, which was developed by collecting specimens for the great naturalist Philip Henry Gosse, a cousin of his father. For about fifteen years he was a Governor of the South Australian Institute. He helped Julia Farr found in 1878 the Home for Incurables, with which he had a continued association until his death. He was appointed visitor to the Parkside Lunatic Asylum, and held that position for many years. He was elected the first Warden of the Senate of the University of Adelaide, which position he filled until the time of his death, with one interval. He was an active member of the Church of England Synod, representing Trinity Church, North Terrace, until he moved to Wakefield Street, Kent Town. He was the first President of the South Australian Medical Society, only the second branch of the British Medical Association to be established outside the UK. He was the first medical officer in South Australia for the Australian Mutual Provident Society and remained connected with that body for twenty years, being a founding member of its local Board, on which he remained until his death. He was a member of the Adelaide Literary Society
Family
He had a sister who never married, and died in England. His brother John Gosse J.P. married Ann Maria. His nephew John Gosse M.R.C.S.E. practised for a while at Mount Pleasant, then for 20 years at Wallaroo. He married Mary Bennet on 4 March 1874. William Gosse married Agnes Grant. Their family included:
Agnes Grant Gosse married Alexander Hay on 13 March 1872. She was the author of After-Glow Memories, Malcolm Canmore's Pearl, Archibald Menzies and Footprints: A Memoir of the Late Alexander Hay. She and her daughter Helen died with the sinking of the, just a year after their mansion "Mount Breckan House" was destroyed by fire.
Mary married Alexander "Alick" Melville on 7 December 1859
David Grant Gosse married Emily Sarah Fenn, daughter of Charles Fenn, on 8 April 1869
William Christie Gosse, the noted explorer, married Gertrude Ritchie on 8 December 1868. He married again, to step-niece Agnes "Aggie" Hay, a daughter of brother-in-law Alexander Hay by his first wife, on 22 December 1874. He died of a heart attack.
Dr. Charles Gosse, ophthalmic surgeon, married Mary Blanche Hawker on 11 May 1880. He died after a horse vehicle accident and resultant gangrene.
Their home from 1854 was on King William Street; from 1858 in Grenfell Street, from 1862 on North Terrace, and from 1880 on Wakefield Street, Kent Town.
Recognition
The Gosse Wing of the Home for Incurables was named in his honour, and opened by his son Charles in 1884.
