John Ross was a Scottish Australian drover

Drover (Australian)

A drover in Australia is a person, typically an experienced stockman, who moves livestock, usually sheep or cattle, "on the hoof" over long distances. Reasons for droving may include: delivering animals to a new owner's property, taking animals to market, or moving animals during a drought in...

 and explorer.

Ross was born in Bridgend

Bridgend

Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of the capital, Cardiff. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. He emigrated to Australia in 1837, arriving in Sydney on 31 August 1837. He first gained employment as a shepherd for George Macleay

George Macleay

Sir George Macleay KCMG, was an Australian explorer and politician.Macleay was born in London, the third son of Alexander Macleay and educated at Westminster School. He came to Australia in 1826....

 and in 1838 he joined Charles Bonney

Charles Bonney

Charles Bonney was a pioneer and politician in Australia.-Early life:Bonney was the youngest son of the Rev. George Bonney, a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, and his wife Susanna, née Knight. He was born at Sandon, near Stafford, Staffordshire, England...

 in the first cattle drive from the Goulburn River

Goulburn River

Goulburn River may refer to:* Goulburn River , Australia* Goulburn River , Australia...

 to Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

. In South Australia he successfully managed several large sheep properties and conducted exploration of the area.

In 1869 he explored the Stevenson River to Eringa and Mount Humphries; he named the mountains after his children, Sarah, Rebecca, Alexander and John. In 1870 his then employer Thomas Elder

Thomas Elder

Sir Thomas Elder GCMG was a Scottish-Australian pastoralist, highly successful businessman, philanthropist, politician, race-horse owner and breeder and public figure...

 recommended Ross' service to Charles Todd, the colony's superintendent of telegraphs and government astronomer. Todd employed Ross to lead exploration of the route for the Australian Overland Telegraph Line

Australian Overland Telegraph Line

The Australian Overland Telegraph Line was a 3200 km telegraph line that connected Darwin with Port Augusta in South Australia. Completed in 1872 the Overland Telegraph Line allowed fast communication between Australia and the rest of the world. An additional section was added in 1877 with the...

. Ross' party ventured across the MacDonnell Ranges

MacDonnell Ranges

The MacDonnell Ranges of the Northern Territory, are a long series of mountain ranges located in the centre of Australia , and consist of parallel ridges running to the east and west of Alice Springs...

, the Simpson Desert

Simpson Desert

The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth largest Australian desert, with an area of 176,500 km² ....

, the Phillipson and Giles creeks and the Fergusson Ranges; they also discovered the Todd River

Todd River

The Todd River is an ephemeral river in the southern Northern Territory, central Australia. The origins of the Todd River begin in the MacDonnell Ranges, where it flows past the Telegraph Station, almost through the center of Alice Springs, through Heavitree Gap at the southern end of Alice Springs...

. In March 1871 he discovered and named Alice Springs, however he found out that W. W. Mills has been there before him. The party eventually made their way to Darwin.

Ross was employed by Elder to explore between Peake

Peake, South Australia

Peake is a small rural community in South Australia situated along the Mallee Highway , approximately 150km east of Adelaide. At the 2006 census, Peake had a population of 231.-History:...

 and Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

. He failed due to lack of fresh water. He went on the manage properties in Victoria and Queensland, later returning to Norwood in Central Australia. He died in Norwood

Norwood, South Australia

Norwood is a suburb of Adelaide, about 4 km east of the Adelaide city centre. The suburb is in the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters, the oldest South Australian local government municipality, with a city population over 34,000.-History:...

after a fall in 1903.