Granny Smith pre-dates the modern approach to apple development and marketing.

"Like all the best old varieties it has a bizarre history, being discovered in Austrialia in the 1860s as a seedling growing in a rubbish tip.
The true parentage is still unknown.
The discoverer - a Mrs Maria Smith found that the apple was versatile for cooking and eating, and was involved in spreading its popularity. In an inspired piece of marketing she called the new apple Granny Smith.

By the 1960s Granny Smith was practically syonymous with 'apple' and the variety was used by the Beatles as the logo for their company 'Apple Records'. "

From the 'Orange Pippin' site