Ned Kelly

Ned Kelly
source
Name	Ned Kelly
Caption	The only known portrait, taken in 1880.
Birth date	c. December 1854
Birth place	Beveridge, Victoria
Death date	11 November 1880 (aged 25)
Death place	Old Melbourne Gaol, Melbourne
Cause	Execution by hanging
Occupation	Bushranger
Known for	Kelly Gang, Kelly armour, Glenrowan
Nationality	Australian

Ned Kelly was an infamous bushranger and a central figure in the colonial history of Victoria. He became a notorious outlaw as the leader of the Kelly Gang, which clashed violently with the Victoria Police in the late 1870s. His final confrontation at Glenrowan and his execution in Melbourne cemented his status as a polarizing folk hero and symbol of Irish Australian defiance against authority.

Early Life

He was born around December 1854 in Beveridge, Victoria, to an Irish Catholic convict father from Van Diemen's Land. His family moved to the Kelly homestead at Avenel, where a young incident involving the rescue of another boy from drowning earned him a green sash. Following his father's death, the family relocated to a difficult selection at Greta in Northeast Victoria, a region marked by tension between selectors and the squattocracy. His first major brush with the law occurred in 1869 after a confrontation with a Chinese Australian hawker, leading to an arrest by Constable Hall. A more serious incident in 1870 involved his apprenticeship to the bushranger Harry Power, though he was ultimately acquitted. In 1871, he received a three-year sentence for receiving a stolen horse, serving time in Pentridge Prison.

Career as a Bushranger

His life of outlawry began in earnest following an incident at the Kelly homestead in April 1878, when Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick was wounded. He, his brother Dan Kelly, and associates Joe Byrne and Steve Hart fled into the Wombat Ranges. In October 1878, a police party searching for them was ambushed at Stringybark Creek, resulting in the deaths of three Victoria Police officers. This led to the government declaring the group outlaws under the Felons' Apprehension Act. The gang then conducted two major robberies: first at Euroa, where they robbed the National Bank and took hostages at Faithfull's Creek Station, and then at Jerilderie, where they captured the local police, robbed the Bank of New South Wales, and he attempted to have his famous Jerilderie Letter published.

The Glenrowan Inn Siege

In June 1880, the gang planned an ambush of a special police train at Glenrowan. They took approximately sixty hostages at the Glenrowan Inn and cut the railway lines. However, the plot was foiled when a released hostage, Thomas Curnow, warned the approaching train. The Victoria Police, led by Superintendent Francis Hare and later Superintendent John Sadleir, surrounded the inn. In the ensuing siege, the gang wore homemade Kelly armour constructed from plough mouldboards. His companions Joe Byrne, Dan Kelly, and Steve Hart were killed during the fight. He was captured after a dramatic shootout, suffering severe gunshot wounds to his unprotected limbs.

Trial and Execution

He was taken to Melbourne and, despite his injuries, stood trial in the Supreme Court of Victoria in October 1880. Presided over by Redmond Barry, he was charged with the murder of Constable Thomas Lonigan at Stringybark Creek. He was convicted and sentenced to death. Numerous petitions for clemency, including one with tens of thousands of signatures, were submitted but rejected by the Executive Council of the Victorian government. On 11 November 1880, he was executed by hanging at the Old Melbourne Gaol. His final words were reported as "Such is life." The judge, Redmond Barry, died of natural causes just twelve days later.

Legacy

His life has been extensively explored in Australian culture, inspiring numerous works like Sidney Nolan's iconic painting series, Peter Carey's novel True History of the Kelly Gang, and several films including the 1906 feature The Story of the Kelly Gang. He remains a contested figure, viewed by some as a murderous criminal and by others as a rebel fighting against oppressive Victorian police and social inequality for poor Irish Catholic settlers. Key artefacts, including his armour and the Jerilderie Letter, are held by the State Library of Victoria and Museum Victoria. The Old Melbourne Gaol remains a major tourist site. In 2012, his remains were finally reinterred in the Greta cemetery after extensive forensic identification.

Category:Australian outlaws Category:1854 births Category:1880 deaths Category:People from Victoria (Australia)