Who is Simpsons Gap named after?

Answer 1

Simpson's Gap was named by Dr. C. T. Madigan in honor of A. A. Simpson who had helped to organise the surveyors expedition for the Overland Telegraph and came across the area while trying to find a route north from Alice Springs. The Simpson Desert was also named after him and was traversed it on the same expedition. This is absolute nonsense in every aspect. Simpsons Gap was named the 1870's by surveyors for the Overland Telegraph Line, before Madigan was even born. Dr CT Madigan came to the area in 1928 (see his book "Central Australia", 1936). AA Simpson, C.M.G, was president of the South Australian Branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, which promoted Madigans 1939 crossing of the Simpson Desert ("Crossing the Dead Heart", 1946).