William Mills

William Whitfield Mills (19 November 1844 – 18 August 1916), usually referred to as "W. Whitfield Mills" or "W. W. Mills", was an English surveyor of the Australian Overland Telegraph Line who is best known for naming a waterhole in Central Australia Alice Spring, from which the town of Alice Springs now takes its name. He also named Heavitree Gap as a tribute to his old school in Devon, England. Early life Mills was born on 19 November 1844 at Plymouth in England. He went to school at Heavitree School in Devon. Mills immigrated to Australia on board the Atlanta from England, arriving in South Australia on 8 April 1866 at the age of 21. Goyder's Expedition Mills was a surveyor on George Goyder's mission to survey a northern capital Palmerston, later renamed Darwin. He arrived on the Moonta on 5 February 1869 leaving just short of a year later, the team having surveyed more than 2700 square kilometres of land.