Coolgardie - Ernest Giles

Transcribed by Lorraine Larment
from photographs provided by Val Beck.

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Plaque at the foot of the grave reads:
Respected Explorer of Central Australia between 1872 and 1876. His dream to discover a way from the Darwin to Adelaide Telegraph line Westward to the Swan River Colony was realised in 1875.

After several expeditions through northern areas of South Australia using horses, his successful journey in 1875 from Thomas Elder’s Beltana Station to Perth using camels took 7 months

Giles traversed through unexplored country North of Coolgardie, making his own tracks and finding little water

Two months after reaching Perth, Giles set out to explore a return route from Perth via Geraldton and the source of the Ashburton River Eastward across the Gibson Desert to South Australia

His expeditions suffered great hardships and failed to find large water sources, only isolated springs. Prominent features such as The Olgas, Victoria and Gibson Deserts, Opthalmia Range, Rawlinson Range were discovered and named by Giles.

Giles was one of the last Explorers to journey across Australia and is remembered for his feats of Endurance by the Institution of Surveyors and the Mapping Sciences Institute, Western Australia Division.

PLACED ON NOVEMBER 13 1997, 100 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH

The monument in the cemetery reads:
In memory of ERNEST GILES, the Australian Explorer
Gold Medallist of the Royal Geographical Society of London
Ob Terras Reclusas
Born at Bristol in England, 20 July 1835
Educated at Christ’s Hospital, London
Died at Coolgardie, Western Australia. 13th November 1897
In recognition of meritorious services rendered as an explorer of the interior of Australia from 1872 to 1876