Ernest Giles

William Ernest Powell Giles ( born July 20 1835 in Bristol, England; † November 20, 1897 in Coolgardie, Australia), usually abbreviated to Ernest Giles, was an Australian explorer who led significant expeditions in the Australian central country.

Born in England emigrated at the age of 15 years to Australia, where he settled in Adelaide and in the following years worked in the sheep and cattle, while his passion for the Australian bush continued to grow. Ernest Giles was the first European to see the Kata Tjuta rock formation and he gave the Gibson Desert its name, after his traveling companion Alfred Gibson, who disappeared in this same desert. Giles crossed the desert from Port Augusta to Western Australia, he went a different route back to search for traces of the missing persons. Several times Giles was close to death, but succeeded also this crossing in spite of all adverse circumstances. In recognition of his discoveries Ernest Giles was inducted into the Royal Geographical Society in London. His discoveries and stories wrote the researchers from 1872 to 1876 as Australia Twice Traversed down. Despite his remarkable research results did not succeed Giles lack of support by the Australian Government to fund further major expeditions. After a few less important research trips he took up employment in an Australian gold mine. Giles died, largely forgotten by the public, on 20 November 1897 of pneumonia. His descendants still live in South Australia.

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