The details of the discovery of Gough Island are unclear, but the most likely occasion is July 1505 by the Portuguese explorer Gonçalo Álvares. Maps during the next three centuries named the island after him. On some later maps, this was erroneously given as Diego Alvarez. According to some historians, the English merchant Anthony de la Roché was the first to land on the island, in the austral autumn of 1675. Charles Gough rediscovered the island on 3 March 1732, thinking it was Gonçalo Álvares, although he found it to be 400 miles further to the east of where it was mapped. This turned out to be correct, and since then, the name "Gough's Island" became prevalent. In the intervening years, the island was also sighted by several VOC vessels, including the Oranje in 1656.
