Editing Ernest Giles

{{Short description|Australian explorer (1835–1897)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2013}}
[[File:Ernest Giles - Project Gutenberg eBook 4947.jpg|thumbnail|right|Photo in the frontispiece of Giles' ''Australia Twice Traversed''<ref name=twice/>]]
'''William Ernest Powell Giles''' (20 July 1835 – 13 November 1897),<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14347235 |title=The Cyclist Soldier |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=26 January 1901 |access-date=1 May 2012 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> best known as '''Ernest Giles''', was an Australian [[List of explorers|explorer]]. He led five major expeditions to parts of South Australia and Western Australia.<ref>{{Dictionary of Australian Biography |First=Ernest |Last=Giles |shortlink=0-dict-biogG.html#giles1 |access-date=22 November 2008}}</ref><ref>Louis Green, '[http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A040278b.htm Giles, Ernest (1835–1897)]', ''[[Australian Dictionary of Biography]]'', Volume 4, Melbourne University Press, 1972, pp 246–247. Retrieved 22 November 2008</ref>

== Early life ==
Ernest Giles was born in [[Bristol]], England, the eldest son<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article207907915 |title=The Late Ernest Giles |newspaper=[[The Evening Journal (Adelaide)]] |volume=XXIX |issue=8422 |location=South Australia |date=16 November 1897 |access-date=19 July 2020 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> of William Giles ({{circa|1795}} – 28 May 1860), a merchant, and Jane Elizabeth Giles, ''née'' Powell ({{circa|1804}} – 15 March 1879).
Their family had been in comfortable circumstances but fell on hard times and emigrated to Australia. William Giles was living in [[North Adelaide, South Australia|North Adelaide]] by 1850<ref name=1850marriage/> and Melbourne by 1853.<ref name=death1853/> William was later employed by {{thinspace|H.|M.}} Customs in Victoria, and his wife founded a successful school for girls in that colony.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87466812 |title=Mrs A. M. Stanton |newspaper=[[The Chronicle (Adelaide)]] |volume=LXXII |issue=3,822 |location=South Australia |date=19 December 1929 |access-date=19 July 2020 |page=20 |via=National Library of Australia}} It is hard to substantiate the reference to a girls' school. [[Gertrude Halley]] was largely educated at the [[Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne|Presbyterian Ladies' College]]. The reference to the family's arrival after 1860 is hard to explain.</ref>

Giles was educated at [[Christ's Hospital]] school, Newgate, London.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article53807228 |title=Cut among the People. |newspaper=[[The Register News-Pictorial]] |date=11 July 1930 |access-date=1 May 2012 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In 1850, at the age of 15, he emigrated to Australia, joining his parents in [[Adelaide]]. In 1852 Giles went to the [[Victoria (Australia)|Victorian]] goldfields, then became a clerk at the Post Office in Melbourne, and later at the County Court.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162384582 |title=Death of an Australian Explorer |newspaper=[[The Adelaide Observer]] |volume=LIV |issue=2,929 |location=South Australia |date=20 November 1897 |access-date=20 July 2020 |page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Soon tiring of town life Giles went to the back country and gained valuable experience as a bushman. In 1865, he explored north-west of the [[Darling River]] in the [[Yancannia Station|Yancannia]] Range looking for pastoral country and land capable of cultivating hemp, as it was valuable for rope at the time.

== Exploration ==
[[File:Ernest Giles expeditions.png|thumb|380px|Map of routes taken by Ernest Giles]]
Giles did not attempt an organised expedition until 22 August 1872, when he left [[Chambers Pillar]] with two other men and traversed much uncharted country to the north-west and west. Finding their way barred by [[Lake Amadeus]] and that their horses were getting very weak, a return was made to the [[Finke River]] and then to [[Charlotte Waters]] and Adelaide, where Giles arrived in January 1873. Giles looked upon his expedition as a failure, but he had done well considering the size and equipment of his party.

== Second expedition ==
Giles' friend [[Ferdinand von Mueller|Baron von Mueller]] raised a subscription so that a new expedition could be made. The services of [[William Tietkens]] as first assistant were obtained, and with two other men a start was made on 4 August 1873. The journey began considerably south from the previous expedition and from the Alberga River a generally western course was traversed. A month later in the [[Musgrave Ranges]] a fine running river was found and named the Ferdinand and by 3 October 1873 the party was approaching [[longitude]] 128 East. The country was extremely dry and though tested in various directions it was a constant struggle to get enough water to keep the horses going. Early in November, having passed longitude 126, a partial return was made and on 20 December 1873 the neighbourhood of Mount Scott was reached. A turn to the north and then west was made and the farthest westerly point was reached on 23 April 1874. Giles and one of the men, [[Alfred Gibson]], had been scouting ahead when the latter's horse died. Giles gave him his own horse with instructions to follow their tracks back and obtain assistance. Giles made his way back to their depot on foot in eight days, almost completely exhausted, to find that Gibson had not reached the camp. A search was made for him for several days without success. The stores were almost finished, nothing further could be done, and on 21 May 1874 the return journey began. Giles named the desert [[Gibson Desert]] after his companion. On 24 June 1874 they were on a good track to the [[Finke River]] and on 13 July 1874 [[Charlotte Waters, Northern Territory|Charlotte Waters]] was reached. Giles had again failed to cross the continent, but in the circumstances all had been done that was possible.

Giles was the first European to see the rock formations named ''The Olgas'', now officially known by [[Kata Tjuta]]/Mount Olga,<ref name="NT-PNR">{{cite web |title=Kata Tjuta / Mount Olga |url=https://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/placenames/view.jsp?id=15673 |website=NT Place Names Register |publisher=Northern Territory Government |access-date=15 August 2019}}</ref> and [[Lake Amadeus]]. He had wanted to name these Mt Mueller and Lake Ferdinand respectively, to honour his benefactor Baron Ferdinand von Mueller, however Mueller prevailed on him to instead honour the [[Amadeus of Spain|King Amadeus of Spain]] and [[Queen Olga of Württemberg]]. Giles supposedly discovered [[Uluru]], but was beaten to the claim by a competing explorer, [[William Gosse (explorer)|William Gosse]].

== Third, fourth and fifth expeditions ==
[[File:Giles Fourth Expedition party.jpg|thumb|right|The party for Giles' fourth expedition]]
Early in 1875 Giles prepared his diaries for publication under the title ''Geographic Travels in Central Australia'', and on 13 March 1875, with the generous help of Sir [[Thomas Elder]], he began his third expedition.  Proceeding far northwards from [[Fowlers Bay, South Australia|Fowler's Bay]], the country was found to be very dry. Retracing his steps Giles turned east, and eventually going round the north side of [[Lake Torrens]], reached Elder's station at [[Beltana Station|Beltana]].

At Beltana the preparations for his fourth journey were made, and with Tietkens again his lieutenant, and with a caravan of camels, a start was made on 6 May.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} [[Afghan (Australia)|Afghan cameleer]] Mahomet Saleh, who had accompanied explorer [[Peter Egerton-Warburton|Peter Warburton]] to [[Western Australia]] two years previously, drove and managed the camels.<ref name=SAhist>{{cite web|url=http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/afghans.htm|title=The Afghan camelmen|website=South Australian History: Flinders Ranges Research|access-date=2 June 2019}}</ref><ref name=australia.gov>{{cite web|url=http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/afghan-cameleers|website=australia.gov.au|title=Afghan cameleers in Australia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140815171331/http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/afghan-cameleers |archive-date=15 August 2014|url-status=dead|date=15 August 2014|access-date=2 June 2019}}</ref> They reached [[Port Augusta]] on 23 May and, after taking a northerly course to clear the lakes, followed a generally westerly course. Some water was carried, and the party was saved the continual excursions in search of water for horses that had caused so much difficulty during previous expeditions. Towards the end of September, over {{convert|323|mi|km}} had been covered in 17 days without finding water, when on 25 September one of the Aboriginal guides in the expedition party, Tommy Oldham, found an abundant supply in a small hollow between sand dunes at a location which Giles subsequently named Queen Victoria Spring, and the party was saved.<ref name="twice">{{cite book |last=Giles |first=Ernest |author-link=Ernest Giles |title=Australia twice traversed: the romance of exploration, being a narrative compiled from the journals of five exploring expeditions into and through central South Australia and Western Australia from 1872 to 1876 |volume=2 |publisher=Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington |year=1889 |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4974 |isbn=0-86824-015-X}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Rusden|first1=George William|author-link1=George William Rusden|title=History of Australia|date=1883|publisher=Chapman and Hall|isbn=9781108030571|page=224|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JxceH8tElKwC&pg=PA224|access-date=3 February 2015}}</ref> After a rest of nine days the journey was resumed on 6 October, still heading west. Ten days later the expedition was attacked by a large number of Aborigines and Giles fired on them. On 4 November they met a white stockman at Tootra out-camp, east of [[Bindi Bindi, Western Australia]]. Their course was west to [[Walebing, Western Australia|Walebing Station]], then south-west and on 11 November they arrived at [[New Norcia]] where they were welcomed by [[Rosendo Salvado|Bishop Salvado]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65962579 |title=Victoria Plains, November 12. |newspaper=The Inquirer & Commercial News |date=17 November 1875 |access-date=26 October 2011 |page=3}}</ref> On 17 November 1875 the party arrived at [[Guildford, Western Australia|Guildford]], and at [[Perth, Western Australia|Perth]] the next day, where they received an enthusiastic reception.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}}

Giles stayed for two months at Perth. Tietkens and [[Jess Young]], another member of the expedition, went back to Adelaide by sea, and on 13 January 1876 Giles began the return journey (fifth expedition) taking a course generally about {{convert|400|mi|km}} north of the last journey. They arrived at Adelaide in September 1876, after a good journey during which the camels were found to be invaluable.<ref name=explorer1880/>

== 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>

==Family==
* William Giles (c. 1795 – 28 May 1860) of HM Customs, Victoria and Jane Elizabeth Giles, née Powell (c. 1804 – 15 March 1879).
*'''William Ernest Giles''' (20 July 1835 – 13 November 1897), the subject of this article.
*Eldest daughter Jane Rebecca Giles (died 26 November 1911) married George Duff Gill (died 7 December 1883) in Adelaide on 10 January 1850,<ref name=1850marriage>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4774940 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)]] |volume=II |issue=302 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=23 February 1850 |access-date=20 July 2020 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> later of [[Kew, Victoria]]; she died at [[St Peters, South Australia]]. The [[George Gill Range]] was named for him by Giles on 30 October 1872.
*Second son Henry Albert Sydney Giles (c. 1840 – 8 December 1853) died in Melbourne.<ref name=death1853>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4800539 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)]] |issue=2060 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=10 December 1853 |access-date=20 July 2020 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
*Helen Sarah Giles (died 4 January 1907) married [[Stephen Vine Buckland]] (died 27 October 1886), prominent lawyer of [[Geelong, Victoria]].
*Third daughter Harriet Eliza New Giles ( – 26 July 1921) married Henry Notley Hull (c. 1821 – 25 February 1884) on 17 August 1871.
*Youngest daughter Alice Mary Giles (c. 1850  – 15 December 1929) married Lionel W. Stanton, the Senior Inspector of Public Schools on 5 January 1892.
*Robert Eugene Giles of [[Hamilton, Victoria]] accepted the [[Royal Geographical Society]] Founder's [sic] medal on his brother's behalf<ref name=explorer1880>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article161912234 |title=Ernest Giles, the Explorer. |newspaper=[[The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser]] |volume=XXX |issue=1060 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=30 October 1880 |access-date=20 July 2020 |page=840 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> and notified the Press of his late return in 1880.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article813901 |title=Mr. Ernest Giles' Exploring Party. |newspaper=[[The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser]] |volume=XXXVII |issue=5084 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=7 December 1880 |access-date=20 July 2020 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He was later jailed for misappropriation while trustee,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87702818 |title=A Fraudulent Trustee |newspaper=[[The Chronicle (Adelaide)]] |volume=41 |issue=2,100 |location=South Australia |date=19 November 1898 |access-date=20 July 2020 |page=23 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> then moved to Adelaide, living at [[St Peters, South Australia|St Peters]],<ref name="The Late Ernest Giles">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91054258 |title=The Late Ernest Giles |newspaper=[[The Kalgoorlie Miner]] |volume=16 |issue=4585 |location=Western Australia |date=11 June 1910 |access-date=20 July 2020 |page=9 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> from where he continued to promote his brother's memory.<ref name="The Late Ernest Giles"/>

Ernest Giles was not related to the explorer [[Alfred Giles (explorer)|Alfred Giles]] and his brother Christopher, though they knew each other professionally.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58566067 |title=Alfred Giles – Enjoying Life at 80 |newspaper=[[The Mail (Adelaide)|The Mail]] |date=22 September 1928 |access-date=30 January 2013 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

==Plant names==
The unrelated [[Christopher Giles]] (c. 1841–1917) assisted Giles's 1872–73 and 1873–74 expeditions, collecting plants for von Mueller in the region of Charlotte Waters.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/giles-ernest.html |title=Biographical notes: Giles, W. Ernest P. (1835–1897)|publisher=[[Australian National Herbarium]] |access-date=21 July 2020}}</ref> Specimens collected by E. Giles are cared for at the [[National Herbarium of Victoria]] (MEL), [[Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria]].<ref name="MEL">{{Cite web| url = https://avh.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?q=collector_text%3A%22Giles%2C+E.%22+AND+collection_uid%3Aco55| title = AVH: The Australasian Virtual Herbarium| website = Atlas of Living Australia| access-date = 15 November 2024}}</ref>

* The genus ''[[Gilesia]]'', which contains one species, ''Gilesia biniflora'' {{small|F.Muell}}, the western tar-vine, is named for both Christopher and Ernest Giles.<ref>{{cite book | last=Burkhardt | first=Lotte | title=Verzeichnis eponymischer Pflanzennamen – Erweiterte Edition |trans-title=Index of Eponymic Plant Names – Extended Edition | publisher=Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin | year=2018 | isbn=978-3-946292-26-5 | url=https://doi.org/10.3372/epolist2018 |language=German |location=Berlin | doi=10.3372/epolist2018 |access-date=1 January 2021}}</ref>
* ''[[Cyperus gilesii]]'' and ''[[Panicum|Panicum gilesii]]'' are usually listed as honouring Ernest Giles, but the type details for both species are given by [[George Bentham]] only as "Central Australia. Charlotte Waters, Giles".
* Christopher Giles was honoured in the species ''[[Eremophila christopheri]]'', the dolomite fuchsia bush, whereas the desert fuchsia, ''[[Eremophila gilesii]]'', which is widespread across the region, honours Ernest.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/giles-christopher.html |title=Biographical notes: Giles, Christopher (c. 1841–1917)|publisher=[[Australian National Herbarium]] |access-date=21 July 2020}}</ref>
* A species of wattle, ''[[Acacia gilesiana]]'', is named for Ernest Giles.

== See also ==
* [[European maritime exploration of Australia|Exploration of Australia]]

== References ==
{{Notelist}}
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110222064926/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/g/giles/ernest/g47a/complete.html Australia Twice Traversed: The Romance of Exploration]  at [https://web.archive.org/web/20071012100614/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/ eBooks @ Adelaide] 
* {{Gutenberg author |id=1611| name=Ernest Giles}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Ernest Giles |sopt=t}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060621062345/http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/ernestgiles.htm William Ernest Powell Giles] at Flinders Ranges Research

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Giles, Ernest}}
[[Category:1835 births]]
[[Category:1897 deaths]]
[[Category:People from the Colony of Victoria]]
[[Category:Explorers of Australia]]
[[Category:Explorers of Western Australia]]
[[Category:Explorers of South Australia]]
[[Category:Explorers from Bristol]]
[[Category:Nullarbor Plain]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Western Australia]]