Archive for the ‘Historical Stuff’ Category

Ned Kelly - Photo © wendishness. All rights reserved

Kelly Gang Formed

Shortly after this a police party of four went in search of the two Kelly’s in the Wombat Ranges. It is often reported that Ned Kelly (along with Dan, and their friends Joe Byrne and Steve Hart) just wanted to disarm the officers and take their horses but things didn’t go to plan.

At Stringybark Creek on the 26th of October police officers Sgt Kennedy and Constables Lonigan and Scanlon were shot dead. Perhaps a kill or be killed situation? Constable McIntyre was the only one to survive and he raised the alarm about the other officers.

On October 29th the government issued a notice of a reward of £800 for the arrest and conviction of all four, now known as the ‘Kelly Gang’. In November this was changed to £2,000 (£500 for each offender) and they were legally declared Outlaws which meant any civilian could legally shoot any of the gang members on sight.

Following this, the Kelly gang robbed a bank in Euroa as well as holding hostages at nearby Faithfull’s Creek in North-East Victoria.

A lot of the Kelly Gang’s friends and sympathisers were arrested and were able to be held up to 3 months to stop them from assisting the outlaws in evading capture. This only increased their numbers of supporters who were starting to resent the government and the police of the state.

In early February of 1879, the gang held up the town of Jerilderie in NSW and robbed its bank. It’s during this time that Ned Kelly wrote his famous ‘Jerilderie Letter’ where he explained his version of events and asked for leniency for their families, friends and supporters who had done no wrong. The reward for the gang had risen to £8,000 – £2,000 per outlaw.

Last Stand

It all came to a head in Glenrowan during a siege between 26th and 28th of June. Clad in the famous armour that has become a symbol of the Kelly Gang they had a shoot-out with the police which brought the gang undone.

Joe Byrne was shot and died from blood loss; his body was taken away and strung up for spectators and photographers. Daniel Kelly and Steve Hart died inside the Inn they were holed up in. Ned Kelly was shot and badly injured but escaped, then came back to try and rescue Dan and Steve. He came upon the police line from the rear and boldly took them on single-handedly, known as Ned Kelly’s ‘last stand’.

He was shot and captured, the only surviving Kelly gang member, he was taken to Melbourne to await trial and his fate.

Read more on Ned Kelly on Wednesday here.

Ned Kelly - Photo © wendishness. All rights reserved

We have had a number of bushrangers during the short history of Australia (since white settlement) but none have stirred Australians more than Ned Kelly and the “Kelly Gang”. Love him or hate him, there seems to be no middle ground when it comes to opinions of our most infamous bushranger.

Who is Edward ‘Ned’ Kelly?

Ned was the eldest son of John Kelly (ex-convict who was transported from Ireland) and Ellen Quinn (a free immigrant from Ireland). There is much debate over when he was actually born as there are no records of his Catholic Baptism but evidence suggests that it’s likely to have been sometime between late 1854 and June 1855.

When Ned’s father died in 1866, Ned was 11 years old and was the eldest child of 7 children at the time. His mother moved with the children to be nearer to family and get on with their lives as best as they could in those tough times.

Bushranger beginnings?

When Ned was 16 years old, a well known bushranger, Harry Power (who had escaped from prison at the time) came along and asked Ned to join him as his offsider. Needing the money to help his mother he went along. It’s most likely that during his time with Harry Power that he learnt a lot of his bush-skills.

His time with Power was short-lived with him being arrested and Power eventually being caught. When Power was brought in, it was made to look as though Ned was the informer but in fact it was Ned’s uncle who had turned him in.

From his release there were various charges against Ned Kelly and at one time during the lead up to the Kelly Gang, Ned was sentenced to hard labour for 3 years.

Trouble with the Law

In 1878 there was an incident with a Constable Fitzpatrick while attempting to arrest Dan Kelly. Ned and Dan decided it would be better for everyone if they got out of the way and went out in the bush to hide out.

Warrants were issued for their arrest for “attempted murder” of Constable Fitzpatrick with a £100 reward. Their mother was arrested and sentenced to 3 years in gaol with hard labour for attempted murder of Constable Fitzpatrick.

Read more on Ned Kelly on Friday here.

The second Monday in June in most of Australia is a public holiday known as the Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend. The quirky thing is, the actual Queen’s birthday isn’t in June at all, it’s April 21st! The origins of the public holiday date all the way back to 1788 when Australia was first settled and Governer Arthur Phillip gave the convicts three days off to celebrate the birthday of King George III. We continued to celebrate the reigning King or Queens birthday until 1936 when the states decided to have an annual holiday closest to the late King’s birthday (King George V) on June 3rd.

Queen Elizabeth II

Oddly enough, although Australia has a public holiday to celebrate the Queen’s Birthday, the UK does not. I guess us Aussies are always looking for an excuse to have a day off work and celebrate!

Growing up, the Queen’s birthday long weekend was always our firecracker / fireworks night before the safety laws came in requiring a license to handle them. All I can remember is being taken to one of our relatives houses while we had a bonfire or fireworks display in the backyard. Back then, every second or third backyard seemed to have their own fireworks being set off – it certainly was a colourful night around the neighbourhood!

Now the Queen’s birthday holiday means a weekend trip away, maybe a picnic or BBQ on Monday with the family or in my case, a restful day off work today, June 8th 2009.