Editing Ernest Giles (section)

== Late life and legacy ==
[[File:ErnestGilesGrave.jpg|thumb|right|Giles' grave at [[Coolgardie, Western Australia]]]]
Giles worked as a land classifier in the Western District of Victoria from 1877 to 1879.

In 1880 he published ''The Journal of a Forgotten Expedition'', an account of his second and third expeditions, then, in 1889, appeared ''Australia Twice Traversed: The Romance of Exploration''<ref name=twice/> in two substantial volumes. This gives an account of his five expeditions. He made a number of other minor journeys and his last years were spent as a clerk in the Inspector of Mines' office at [[Coolgardie, Western Australia|Coolgardie]], where his great knowledge of the interior was always available for prospectors. Giles was made a fellow and awarded the [[Patron's Medal]]{{efn|Contemporary reports in the Australian press have Giles receiving the (more prestigious) Founder's medal}} of the [[Royal Geographical Society]] in 1880 and was made ''Cavaliere dell'Ordine della Corona d'Italia'' (Knight of the [[Order of the Crown of Italy]]) by King [[Vittorio Emanuele II]].<ref name=twice/>

Despite his explorations, the various Australian governments at the time turned their respective backs on his achievements once they had been completed, and refused to patronise any further exploits or give him much in the way of financial reward. Governor Sir [[William Jervois]] claimed on 11 October 1881, "I am informed that he gambles and that his habits are not always strictly sober".

After a short illness Giles died of [[pneumonia]] at his nephew's house in [[Coolgardie]] on 13 November 1897 and was buried at the Coolgardie Cemetery. He was unmarried. It was reported at the time: {{blockquote|1=He has left behind a name that will be long remembered and held in honor as one who had devoted the best years of his life to one of the noblest causes that man can engage".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71280410 |title=Ernest Giles |newspaper=Australian Town and Country Journal |date=20 November 1897 |access-date=26 October 2011 |page=8}}</ref>}}

[[Hedley Herbert Finlayson|H. H. Finlayson]] in ''The Red Centre: man and beast in the heart of Australia'' (1935) said of Giles:
{{blockquote|1=All who have worked in that country since Giles's time have felt both admiration and astonishment at the splendid horsecraft, the endurance, and the unwavering determination with which these explorations were carried through&nbsp;... To read Giles's simple account of those terrible rides into the unknown on dying horses with an unrelieved diet of dried horse for weeks at a time, with the waters behind dried out and those ahead still to find, is to marvel at the character and strength of the motive which could hold a man constant in such a course.}}

In 1976 he was honoured on a postage stamp bearing his portrait issued by [[Australia Post]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.australianstamp.com/images/large/0011620.jpg|work=Australian Stamp and Coin Company |title=Image of Giles stamp |access-date=30 August 2009}}</ref>

[[Mount Giles]], the third highest mountain in the Northern Territory;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Awildland |date=2019-08-30 |title=awildland: Mt Giles, Tjoritja (West MacDonnell National Park), NT |url=https://awildland.blogspot.com/2019/08/mt-giles-tjoritja-west-macdonnell.html |access-date=2023-01-14 |website=awildland}}</ref> Lake Giles, 160&nbsp;km (100&nbsp;mi) north of [[Southern Cross, Western Australia]];<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1898 |title=Obituary: Ernest Giles |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1774858 |journal=The Geographical Journal |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=78–80 |jstor=1774858 |issn=0016-7398}}</ref> and the [[Giles Weather Station]], near the Western Australian-South Australian border, were named after him.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Joy |first=William |url=https://openlibrary.org/works/OL12723622W/The_explorers?edition=key%3A/books/OL28317040M#editions-list |title=The Explorers |publisher=[[Rigby Ltd]] |year=1964 |isbn=0-85179-112-3 |location=Adelaide |pages=105–107}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Giles Weather Station |url=http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/sa/giles/history.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110320232234/http://www.bom.gov.au/sa/giles/history.shtml |archive-date=20 March 2011 |access-date=23 August 2009 |publisher=Bureau of Meteorology}}</ref>