Later Life
After the action for which Whirlpool later received the Victoria Cross, he was hospitalised in Jhansi. Surviving despite considerable odds, he was considered too injured to remain in the military and as a result was discharged prior to receiving his award. He was granted a pension and subsequently migrated to Australia. In 1859 he landed in Victoria and he began looking for work. He was employed briefly as a school teacher, and he applied unsuccessfully to join the police. Later he joined the Hawthorne and Kew Volunteer Rifles, assuming a different name. Eventually a drill instructor discovered who he was and in June 1861, in front of 2,000 people, in the uniform of his new regiment, Whirlpool reluctantly received his medal.
Later, after turning down a job offer to join the police, Whirlpool changed his name to Humphrey James and moved to Tasmania. By 1865, however, he had moved to Sydney. Keeping his identity secret, he undertook a teachers training course and then began working at a school near Wisemans Ferry. Still plagued by his injuries, and although considered to be a good teacher, he began drinking heavily and this eventually led to him being dismissed.
Following this, Whirlpool became a "hermit" and moved to Windsor, although he continued to draw his pension. In the final part of his life, Whirlpool confided his true identity to a grocer called Smith, who allowed him to live on his property for a time and supported him by giving him free groceries. When Whirlpool died on 24 June 1899, Smith assumed the role of executor of Whirlpool's estate, arranging for him to be buried in a Presbyterian churchyard. Whirlpool had been so reclusive in his final years that Smith was the only attendee at the funeral.
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