Ned Kelly - Body Found & Authenticated - Head is a Fake

CDfm · 2011-09-01 23:11:14

Ned alive The Day before execution Death Mask Pic Imposter Skull Fake Skull Pics

#2 02-09-2011 10:18PM

CDfm

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Ned had his roots in Tipperary but also had a brother James who who lived until 1946 and sister Grace who lived till 1940

Meet the Kelly family

[FONT=Arial,Arial Black,Arial Narrow Bold,Arial Narrow,Arial Narrow Italic,Arial Narrow Bold Italic]JOHN 'RED' KELLY
[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial Black,Arial Narrow Bold,Arial Narrow,Arial Narrow Italic,Arial Narrow Bold Italic]Father of Australian outlaw Ned Kelly

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[FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]John 'Red' Kelly[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]
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[FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]John Kelly, father of Ned Kelly was baptised on 20th February 1820 in Moyglass Church in the Parish of Killenaule in the county of Tipperary Ireland
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[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]Old Moyglass Church 1837-1989. John Kelly saw this church being built and more than likely helped out with other locals. Demolished in 1989.[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]
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[FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]This entry in the Parish register in Moyglass Church tells us that his father was Thomas Kelly and that his mother was Mary Cody and that they lived in the townsland of Clonbrogan, which is about one mile west from Moyglass village
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[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]Old Moyglass School House. Built on the site of church where John Kelly was baptised in 1820.
Now used as a private house.[/FONT]

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The Marriage Register tells us that Thomas Kelly and Mary Cody had been married in the same church in the previous year on 1st February 1819 when Thomas Kelly was 18 years of age (going back further still we find that Thomas Kelly’s parents, John Kelly and Ellen Head had also been married in Moyglass Church on 16th June 1799). Thomas Kelly and Mary Cody reared their family of five boys and two girls on a very small plot of ground, less than half an acre, which looked across on Slievenamon mountain. The Kelly homestead in Clonbrogan, marked on the maps of the 1840’s, is long gone, but the Kelly story still arouses great interest both here in Ireland and in Australia where, later on, six of the seven Kelly children journeyed when they left their Tipperary home.[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]

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[FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]The Two Pigs[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]
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[FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]John, the eldest son was the first of the Kelly’s to go to Australia. The truth is, he was sent, because on 4th December 1840 he stole two pigs "value about six pounds" from a James Cooney of Ballysheehan, near the famous ‘city’ of Cashel, and then went and sold them at Cahir market about 14 miles further on. So the police records tell us anyway and the authorities seem to have trusted the police reports because on 7th January 1841, John Kelly was found guilty at Cashel Court and sentenced to 7 years transportation for pig stealing.[/FONT]

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[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]Newpark Police Station where the pig stealing incident was first reported by a Mary Cooney in December 1840.
[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]Now used as a private house.[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]
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[FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]The police and court reports further indicate that our John was also involved in the stealing of ‘seven fat cows’ belonging to a neighbouring farmer, a Mr. Ryall from Moyglass. He seems to have been ‘helping out’ a Patrick Regan on that occasion, and Patrick Regan got 10 years transportation for his cattle rustling efforts, It must be mentioned here also that the court reports also state that "it was he (i.e. John Kelly) that gave information respecting Regan", which would seem to indicate that John Kelly had ‘squealed’ on his friend. However, the reports do not tell us what pressure was applied to elicit the said ‘information’, or whether his reduced sentence was a reward for his cooperation.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]JOHN KELLY'S TIPPERARY[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]
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[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]Mobarnan Police Station. The Mobarnan Police intercepted Patrick Regan and John Kelly while they were stealing "seven fat cows" in Moyglass. Now used as a private house.[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]
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[FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]Famine Times[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]
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[FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]It is pertinent to remember that in the 1840’s we are dealing with the most wretched period in modern Irish history. The majority of the Irish population of over eight million people (1841) were chronically poor tenant farmers and cottiers. The Kelly’s, it would appear, were just another poor, near landless family whose plight was of little concern to the alien administration in control at that time.

The Great Famine of 1845 - 1847 left over one million dead and another million gone on the ‘coffin ships’. Such was the background to the offences committed by the likes of John Kelly, Patrick Regan and countless others.[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]

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[FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]John Kelly sails on 'The Prince Regent'[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]
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[FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]John Kelly was kept in Jail until 31st July 1841 when he was placed on board the convict ship ‘The Prince Regent’ in the port of Dublin. On the 7th August 'The Prince Regent' sailed from Dublin with 182 convicts on Board. There was one port of call, Cape Town, and the ship arrived in the Derwent River, Van Diemens Land, now Tasmania, on 2nd January 1842. By this time John Kelly had already served one year of his sentence and the next six years were spent at convict and labouring jobs in Tasmania. He was granted his ticket of leave on 11th July 1845 and on 11th January 1848 he was granted his Certificate of Freedom. He was a free man again but in a different country at the other side of the world.

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[FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]John Kelly in Victoria[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]
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Sometime during 1848/49 John Kelly crossed the Bass Strait to Port Philip Colony, now Melbourne, and he headed inland along the old Sydney road and worked as a carpenter around Donnybrook and Kilmore, an area with many Irish settlers.

In 1850 he met Ellen Quinn, who had come out from Ballymena, County Antrim, with her family as a young girl. They were married on 18th November 1850 in St. Francis’s Church, Melbourne by Fr. Gerald Ward.

For the next fourteen years or so John Kelly made a living from horse dealing, dairy farming and even some gold mining. During this time seven children were born, including Edward, who subsequently became the famed ‘Ned Kelly’.[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]

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[FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]Last Move to Avenel[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]
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[FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]John and Ellen Kelly bought and sold a number of farms around the township of Beveridge, but their fortunes seem to have been declining over time. In 1864 John Kelly sold his farm for £80 and headed further inland with his family, and they rented 40 acres near Avenel, Victoria.

The Kelly family was very poor at this stage and the drought of 1865 made things even worse. In 1865 John Kelly was charged with stealing a calf from a Mr. Morgan and on 29th May 1865 he was in Court for this offence. The charge of cattle stealing was dismissed, but the charges of "unlawful possession of a hide" was upheld and he was fined £25 or 6 months in Jail. He seems to have served 4 months in jail because on 3rd October 1865 John Kelly himself registered his eight and last child, Grace, in Campions store in Avenel.

In the birth register he lists his home area as "Moyglass, Co. Tipperary, Ireland" and his age as "45". It is this entry, signed by John Kelly himself that confirms that he and the John Kelly baptised on 20th February 1820 in Moyglass are one and the same person.

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[FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]Death of John Kelly[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]
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[FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]John Kelly’s health was breaking down and he got seriously ill in November 1866. A Doctor Healey, came from Seymour one week before Christmas of that year, but John Kelly was dying of Dropsy for which there was no cure. John Kelly died on 27th December 1866, aged 46 years. His death was reported and signed by his son Edward Kelly who was not yet 12 years of age at this time.

John Kelly was buried in an unmarked grave in Avenel Cemetery, Victoria, on 29th December 1866, far from his native home of Clonbrogan in the heart of County Tipperary.
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[FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]Kelly Family Tree[/FONT][FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]
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[FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]John Kelly married Ellen Head 16th June 1799
Their son Thomas Kelly, born 2nd July 1800 married Marry Cody 1st February 1819.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,New Font,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]Thomas Kelly and Mary Cody had the following children
John 'Red' Kelly born 20th February 1820
Edmund born 1822
Thomas born 1825
Mary born 1828
Anne born 1831
James born 1835
Daniel born 1839

John 'Red' Kelly married Ellen Quinn 18th November 1850 (in Melbourne Australia)
and had the following children
Mary Jane born 1851 (died 1851)
Anne born 1853 (died 1872)
Ned Kelly born 1855 (died 1880)
Maggie born 1857 (died 1896)
James born 1859 (died 1946)
Dan born 1861 (died 1880)
Kate born 1863 (died 1898)
Grace born 1865 (died 1940[/FONT]

http://fethard.com/people/redkelly.html

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#3 02-09-2011 11:13PM

CDfm

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Ned had a sister kate , now on the day of his execution

“Making an exhibition of yourself”
The Illustrated Australian News, no. 291 July 1880, published Julian Ashton’s sketches of Ned and Kelly together following his capture at Glenrowan, and noted:
“the following morning arrangements were made for forwarding Ned Kelly to Melbourne by train. Preparatory to leaving, Mrs Skillion and his sister
KATE KELLY
Appeared on the platform for the purposes of bidding him farewell. Kate Kelly is a somewhat remarkable woman, and has borne a conspicuous part in connection with the Kelly Gang. Though suspected and closely watched by the police, they have never been able to sheet home to her a charge of assisting her brothers, and there cannot be a doubt that she possessed considerable pluck, powers of endurance and loyalty to her misguided brothers…”
These scenes were echoed throughout the Australian press… So when Kate Kelly and her brother Jim appeared at the Apollo Hall, polite Melbourne society was “outraged”. Ned Kelly had been hung that morning. Posters appeared around Melbourne, announcing the event.

MISS KATE KELLY AND HER BROTHER WILL INTERVIEW ALL COMERS
THIS EVENING THURSDAY NOVEMBER 11 APOLLO HALL
BOURKE STREET EAST
MISS ETTIE HART WILL ALSO APPEAR
ADMISSION - ONE SHILLING COMMENCE AT 8 O'CLOCK
The Exhibition was something of a tableau vivant with Kate and the others sitting motionless on a stage while curious onlookers filed past and conversed with them. Estimates for the crowds who’d waited outside Pentridge Gaol that morning were in the thousands and some of these may have paid the shilling to have a closer encounter with the family. At the time of Ned’s death she was 17, described as “five feet four inches high, slender build, dark complexion and hair - thin features, dark piercing eyes, very small chin, fairly good looking and a reserved manner, when in Victoria generally dressed in dark clothes.”
This was not Kate’s first public appearance. In July 1879, in Beechworth, 200 people had “thronged to see Aaron Sherritt, Mrs Byrne, Maggie Skillion and Kate Kelly who had come from Tarrawingee the previous night.” It had been noted in Melbourne that the much-travelled Kate Kelly had caught the Friday night train back to Beechworth.
The day after Ned’s death, the Argus, reported:
“A disgraceful scene took place last night at the Apollo Hall, where Kate Kelly and her brother, James Kelly, were exhibited by some speculators. They occupied arm-chairs upon the stage, and conversed with those present. The charge for admission was one shilling and several hundreds of persons paid for admission. The movement is said to be a private speculation, the hall having been let to the person showing the relatives of the executed bushranger by the Georgia Minstrels whose lease had not yet expired.”
The exhibition of the family was fostered by disparate groups, some driven by political motives, others by the desire to capitalise on their notoriety. After Ned had been sentenced to death, Kate, Maggie and Tom Lloyd, had applied for help through the Society for the Abolition of Capital Punishment. As she’d aided and abetted her the Kelly Gang during the outbreak, now Kate pleaded fruitlessly for his life, even willing to go on her knees before the Governor to beg for mercy.
Newspapers reported sightings of her somewhat as they might report the movements of a celebrity. "Miss Kelly appears well in health, though pale,” wrote one newspaper. “She was tending a child, which she, however, consigned to its mother and conversed pretty freely. A habit of cautious reticence seemed, however, to have become her nature, and while her eyes would gleam with intelligence, they had a certain shy sense of pleasure she felt in baffling inquiry.... with regard of either herself or any other member of her family. She denied that there was ever any offence to be laid to her charge, unless it was that of sympathising with her brother, and said that the way the whole family had been harassed for years made her wish 'she had never been born’.
Within weeks the Bulletin, (20 November) was announcing: “Kate Kelly and her friends have formed themselves into a show and have been holding shilling levees at Melbourne with great success. They say they only want to get enough money to enable them to leave the country. If Kate wants to make money she ought to start a whisky-mill. Perhaps some enterprising landlord will yet try to make a Hebe of her.”
The Sydney Morning Herald (26 November) reported a KATE KELLY EXHIBITION, noting that the gentlemen who’d mounted it, “James Gregory Tomkins and James Pringle were summoned, at the instance of sub-inspector Anderson, for that on the 23rd November, on the premises at the rear of no. 128 Pitt Street in Sydney, they did permit a woman, Kate Kelly, and a man named James Kelly, relatives of the notorious criminal, Edward Kelly, who was recently executed in the neighbouring colony, to the great damage and common nuisance of all persons therein inhabiting and passing, and to offending, and against the peace of the Queen.”
The growth of fairs, entertainments and sideshow displays had created generalised anxiety among authorities in the colony. How much greater did they fear the disorder that a public display by the Kelly family could provoke. Sydney had seen its first international exhibition the year before Ned’s death at the Garden Palace in the Royal Botanical Gardens and such exhibitions had become associated with an emerging sense of nationhood. The rural sideshows of English fairs had established themselves in Australian cities because there were simply not enough people in country areas to justify them. The Kellys, with their superb equestrian skills, were no strangers to these.
Regarding the Kate Kelly Exhibition, the Sydney Morning Herald continued, “Sub-Inspector Anderson deposed that he laid the information; on Monday night he saw a number of persons coming from the premises referred to and going into them; there were boys from 12 to 20 years of age, girls of the larrikin and disorderly classes; he had to station some constables to keep order on the footpath; he considered the exhibition of the relatives of Edward Kelly a gross outrage, and highly injurious to public morals.
Sub-Inspector Camplin went to the premises mentioned on Monday afternoon and saw Tomkins and asked that was being fixed up; saw the exhibition there that evening, saw James Kelly riding on a horse and leading another into the shed; heard a man named Donovan standing at the entrance calling out: ‘The renowned Kate Kelly, mounted on her pony Oliver Twist, and Jim Kelly, mounted on Ned Kelly’s grey mare Kitty, and upon the saddle which Ned Kelly rode. Admission 1s. There’s no fraud about this. These are the genuine persons – no waxworks here,’ and remarks of the kind.
Case remanded one week; bail allowed to such of 80 pounds and two of 40 pounds. A promise was also given that the exhibition should not take place in the meanwhile.”
In their summary of the news, the Sunday Mail, (27 November) wrote:
“The Police have interfered in the Kelly Exhibition in Sydney as being demoralising to the youthful part of the population and a nuisance to the neighbourhood in which it is held.”
The Bulletin carried several reports:
“Kate and Jim Kelly tried to show last night in King Street, but the police put a stop to the affair.”
Their Page 4 Notes had these snippets: “Sir Henry Parkes says that all those who didn’t vote for him would have supported Ned Kelly.”
“Kate Kelly has invested in a fashionable riding habit at a leading house.”
“While Kate Kelly was holding a reception the other evening the footpath became so crowded that a number of respectable citizens took to the road.”
“James Kelly and his sister are staying at the Guild Hall Hotel. We saw Jim on Sunday night and asked him his opinion of the political situation. But he made no reply.”
Jottings from Melbourne, Page 5, noted that:
“Every woman in the community was shocked at Kate Kelly’s unfeeling conduct on the night of the day on which her brother was executed.”
Page 9 Notes carried another report of the attempted Exhibition, on the corner of King and Campbell Streets.
“Last Saturday night the Kelly gang stuck up the whole of Campbell Street. This street was positively blocked with every rank and sex, all eager to feast their eyes on the fascinating spectacle of a rough bushman and his helpless sister. O curae hominum? What trifles form the cares of men; and ditto as regards the women. Unless prevented by the authorities these talented artists show this week, and we venture to remark that their opening night will bring a greater crush than an Irving Shakespearean reading or a Sims Reeves and Santly concert.”
On 2 December 1880, under Accidents and Offences, the Sydney Morning Herald reported:
“The brother and sister of notorious bushranger Ned Kelly have paid a visit in Sydney for the purpose of exhibiting themselves and some of the relics of the bushranging conflicts; but the police interfered, and the exhibition has been stopped…”

http://www.katekelly.biz/exhibitions.htm

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#4 03-09-2011 08:04AM

CDfm

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Here is a super link on the jigsaw and the descendants of some of those involved.

http://www.smh.com.au/victoria/a-jigsaw-of-clues-finally-solves-the-ned-kelly-puzzle-20110902-1jqdf.html?from=smh_sb

Who would have guessed one of the Kelly Clan would be a Melbourne Art teacher.

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#5 03-09-2011 08:30AM

CDfm

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So why start with Kate when looking at Ned Kelly.

Well, firstly the Ned story centres around her and it was alledged that a policeman Alexander Fitzpatrick made advances to a 15 year old Kate while at the family farm to arrest another brother Dan on foot of a warrant.

This started a chain of events.

Kate drowned mysteriously in 1898 ,the wife of a respectable blacksmith, and a very respectable woman.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]CATHERINE ADA KELLY
BETTER KNOWN AS “KATE” OR “KITTIE”
SISTER OF NED KELLY (1863 = 1898)[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Compiled and written by Gary Dean & Dagmar Balcarek. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Catherine Ada Foster, better known as Kate Kelly, the legendary sister of Ned Kelly. There were many newspaper articles, books, bush-songs and ballads written about Ned's sister Kate, and even more hear’says spread about her, but unfortunately, as often seems to happen, not all were correct, often to her detriment. So what was Kate Kelly really like?[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Catherine Ada Kelly was born in, Beveridge on 12th July, 1863. Her parents were John Kelly and Ellen, nee Quinn. There are some mistakes in her birth certificate, like the age of her father and mother and the date of their marriage, probably because their neighbour, and brother-in-law John Ryan, who duly registered the birth of Kate in Donnybrook three days later, couldn't supply the exact data. She was the seventh child to her parents; their first girl, Mary, having died in infancy, the others being, Anne, Edward (Ned), Margaret, James and Daniel. The family moved later to Avenel, where in 1866 little Grace was born, and John Kelly, their father, died of dropsy. Kate was four years old, when her widowed mother moved with the children to live with her sisters at Greta. Then, twelve months later, Ellen Kelly took up her own selection on the Eleven-Mile-Creek, and moved her family into a two-roomed hut, which had been erected on the block.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Kate attended school at Greta and after finishing her schooling, helped her mother with the younger children, for Mrs. Kelly had remarried in 1874, and there were three more children by her second husband, George King, who were named Ellen, John and Alice. Kate grew into a beautiful young lady, who, like the rest of the family, was an exceptional horsewoman. Legend has it that her first suitor was Aaron Sherritt, whose tragic end has been fully described in the books dealing with the Kelly outbreak.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]There was, however, another man, who became an importunate suitor of the young, vivacious girl despite the aversion of the whole family and Kate herself. He was the one who had triggered off the prelude to the Kelly tragedy. His name was Alexander Fitzpatrick. A former boundary rider, he later joined the police force, and at 21 he became a police constable. Although young, he had a lot of experience with women, and his attitude towards them was one of a merciless hunter. As a result of this, at 19, he already had to pay maintenance to a certain Jessie McKay of Meredith for the child he fathered. Jessie was not his only victim, there was another girl named Anne Savage, who lived at Frankston, and who by the end of 1877 was also pregnant to the indefatigable Alexander. He promised to marry her but it was not until the intervention of Jessie's father, Theodore Savage, a solicitor, who wrote to Captain Standish complaining about the Constable's honourable intentions, that they were finally joined in holy matrimony. But before this had taken place, he had already set his sights on his next victim, the 15 year old Kate Kelly.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Alexander, however, this time over-estimated himself. He first tried to pose as a friend of Ned's, but Ned and his family were not fools to be reckoned with, and they did not trust the young Constable. But fate destined that on the 15th April, 1878, an incident would occur at the Kelly home that would have dire consequences for the whole Kelly family. What really happened on that day at the Kelly Homestead, will never be entirely known, as reports given by those present conflict each other. However, Fitzpatrick did visit the homestead stating that he was acting on a warrant for the arrest of Dan for horse stealing. He was unquestionably under the influence of alcohol at the time, and he did make a pass at Kate that required her mother and her brothers to go to her assistance. Following the incident he returned to the Benalla police station where he made false statements. He maintained that Mrs. Kelly had stricken him with a fire shovel, Dan Kelly had beaten him and Ned Kelly had shot him and wounded him. He also incriminated William Williamson and William Skillion who he insisted were there when the incident took place. The outcome resulted in long harsh sentences for Mrs. Kelly, and her neighbours, Skillion and Williamson, based solemnly on Fitzpatrick's evidence, but believed by the police and Judge Barry. The Kelly boys, who were also wanted, hadn't waited around for their arrest as having not trusted him, they had already fled into the Wombat Ranges. The fact that even the doctor who had attended Fitzpatrick's wounds, did not confirm that his wounds were caused by a revolver bullet, and also that he reported a strong smell of liquor on the constable, or later, the fact that Fitzpatrick had been expelled from the police force for being a liar and a larrikin who never did his duty, didn't help Mrs. Kelly and her neighbours in mitigating their sentences - by then it was too late.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Following the sentence of their mother, the Kelly girls took the responsibility for looking after the children and for maintaining their mother's selection. They also helped to look after their brothers, who were by then outlawed because of the shooting of the police at stringybark Creek, in the Wombat Ranges. Kate often risked her life riding as a decoy for the police to follow. She frequently rode out to her brothers hideouts with food, clothes, ammunition and valuable information, She co-operated with her sister Margaret in everything that could have been done for their unfortunate brothers. Without the assistance of their sisters, the outlaws couldn't have remained at large for any length of time. Kate went with her sister, Tom Lloyd and Joseph Ryan to Melbourne to obtain the cartridges of the calibre of the weapons the Kelly gang were using. The police always kept a pretty close watch upon the movements of the family, nevertheless, they managed to purchase what they needed. Kate was carrying a large portmanteau and on their return journey two detectives accosted them at Winton railway siding and took the portmanteau away to search it. It contained only ladies clothes, but no sooner had they gone, Kate opened the window on the other side of the carriage and whistling to the man waiting on the platform she slipped him a parcel containing the ammunition. Nobody noticed it and the man quickly disappeared into the bush, while Kate returned to her seat, and remained absolutely calm as if nothing had happened.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Kate visited her mother in gaol as often as she could. After the final siege of Glenrowan, where her brother Dan died and Ned was captured and imprisoned, she also visited Ned when permitted, but was turned away on several occasions. As much as anyone in the family, she also tried desperately to raise money for Ned's trial to get him a good lawyer, but they could manage only a feeble fee. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]After Ned was sentenced to death, Kate with her sister Maggie and Tom Lloyd, applied for help through the Society for the Abolition of Capital Punishment. Their last hopes were lost, when four members of this Society were allowed to see the Governor to beg for a prerogative mercy for Ned. Kate was received with them. She went to her knees begging for her brother's life, but His Excellency the Marquis of Normanby refused to listen. Kate and the family could now only bid him the last painful farewell. Ned Kelly was hanged on 11-11-1880 at 10 o'clock in the morning. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]A newspaper report made shortly before Kate's last visit to her brother reads: [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"Miss Kelly appears well in health, though pale. She was tending a child, which she, however, consigned to its mother and conversed pretty freely. A habit of cautious reticence seemed, however, to have become her nature, and while her eyes would gleem with intelligence, they had a certain shy sense of pleasure she felt in baffling inquiry.... with regard of either herself or any other member of her family. She denied that there was ever any offence to be laid to her charge, unless it was that of sympathising with her brother, and said that the way the whole family had been harassed for years made her wish 'she had never been born'." [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The very evening that Ned was hanged, some posters appeared around Melbourne, announcing: [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]KELLY FAMILY[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]MISS KATE KELLY AND HER BROTHER WILL INTERVIEW ALL COMERS
THIS EVENING THURSDAY NOVEMBER 11 APOLLO HALL
BOURKE STREET EAST
MISS ETTIE HART WILL ALSO APPEAR
ADMISSION - ONE SHILLING COMMENCE AT 8 O'CLOCK
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Kate and her brother Jim were duped by a smart showman to appear on the stage "to thank their supporters in person", but it didn't work out that way. Instead, a crowd of loiterers gazed tactlessly at the grief-stricken family members. Kate's sister Margaret disapproved of this and refused to be photographed. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Grief remained for the Kelly family, but life went on. A report made by Detective Ward in 1880 described Kate as follows; Victorian, aged about 18 years, five feet four inches high, slender build, dark complexion and hair - thin features, dark piercing eyes, very small chin, fairly good looking and a reserved manner, when in Victoria generally dressed in dark clothes. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The police wouldn't leave them alone even now! Kate suddenly disappeared from Eleven Mile Creek - and from Victoria. She appeared briefly in a Wild West Show in Sydney and adopted the name of "Ada". She was recognised nevertheless. To retain her incognito, she accepted an offer to appear in a show in Adelaide and performed under an assumed name of Ada Hennessey, and later Kate Ambrose. She managed to keep her incognito, but had to stop performing, because she became seriously ill. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]At that time, a strange advertisement appeared in Adelaide. Professor Lance Skuthorpe introduced in his show an excellent equestrienne, Nora Kelly, the niece of Kate Kelly. This Nora Kelly has remained a mystery till these days. There was neither a flora found among the Kelly family, nor was found any evidence as to this Nora's further performances with Lance Skuthorpe, although that particular show was performed in front of the Duke and Duchess of York while they were visiting Adelaide. A bit of a coincidence, however, strikes every reader of J. J Kenneally's "The Inner History of the Kelly Gang". At page 11, Mr. Kenneally challenges an impostor who he had insisted on being Dan Kelly, and this imposter wrote in the Brisbane "TRUTH": [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif](He said that): “Flora was the oldest, then brother Jim, Ned, myself and Kate the youngest". [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Everybody knows that there was no Flora who'd have been Ned's sister. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Lance Skuthorpe, of course, was a famous performer who astounded the audience with riding buckjumpers in a lions cage, and with his horsemanship and sharp shooting. To add to the mysteries and coincidences, an historian has to struggle with. The name of his second wife was Violet King, also a circus performer. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]It took some time and headache to establish that this lady had nothing to do with Vi, the wife of Jack Kelly - King, also an outstanding performer. Kate recuperated from her illness very slowly, she was yet not well enough when she started her new job as a barmaid at Hill Scott's Hotel in South Adelaide and eventually she had to give it up. She then decided to return home and after a while regained her strength. When she felt better, she worked as a domestic at Dr. Henderson's household in Wangaratta, and later as a housemaid at Mundarra Station in Laceby for Mrs. Henderson's parents, the Smiths. Her next job was at Mrs. Ponter's Promenade Hotel in Albury, then she was employed by Mrs. Prow at Glendore as a domestic, being recommended for the position by Mr McDougall of Waroo Station. She continued as a domestic at Cadow Station, where she was highly recommended by Mr. Prow. The reputation of a hard worker gained her another job for Mr. J. Gunn, butcher, and another one for Mr. Luthie & Son, undertakers. Finally, she was in the employ of Mr. C. Prow (the proprieter of the family general store) at his private residence in Lachlan St. Forbes. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]On 25th November 1888, the 25 year old Kate married William Henry Foster of Forbes, the son of Frederick Foster and Mary May Ann, (née Davis). The couple married at the Church of England in Forbes. The Fosters were well respected and quite well off. Kate still used her alias "Ada" and was so known to all at Forbes. This is why the name Ada appears on the marriage certificate and birth registrations of her children. There were six of them: Frederick Arthur, Gertrude Eileen Ada (later Mrs. Cavanagh), Arthur Douglas, Ethel Maude (later Mrs. Hibbert), Ruby Ellen and Catherine. Three of those children, Arthur Douglas, Ruby Ellen and Catherine died in infancy and were buried in the grave at the Forbes Cemetery with their mother. During her married life in Forbes she on many occasions showed her skills in horsewomanship, and helped her husband in breaking in horses around South Circle Park. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Kate died relatively young at the age of 35, and in what could only be described as tragic circumstances. After being reported missing on the 6th of October 1898, her body was found eight days later in a lagoon at Condobolin Road near Forbes, where she drowned. The Magisterial inquiry was held on 15th October, but didn't throw any light as to how and why it happened. According to the death certificate, there was no evidence. However, it is known that following the death of her sister Maggie, some two years earlier, Kate had become very depressed.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Kate was buried in the Church of England section of the Forbes Cemetery. The headstone on her grave was erected by Mr. McDoughall of Waroo Station, who was very fond of Kate - Ned Kelly's sister. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]When Kate died, her children Frederick, Gertrude and Maude were taken by their uncle, Jim Kelly, to their grandmother, Ellen Kelly at Eleven Mile Creek. This was done after much persuasion, because the Foster family in Forbes wanted to keep them. Their widowed father visited his children on several occasions and contact was maintained between them for many years. William Henry Foster was a blacksmith in Forbes, he was often called "Harry" or "Bricky" by his friends.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]His son Frederick Arthur became a beekeeper at Myrrhee and remained unmarried. He was killed in action in World War 1 in Vouzière in France in 1917. In his army records he gave his father's current address (in Sydney) as his next of kin. It was to his father that the telegram was sent regarding Fred's death. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Gertrude (Mrs. Cavanagh) was often registered as Ada, Gertrude Ada or Ada Gertrude, and on her marriage certificate she gave the name as Gertrude Eileen. She married Douglas Arthur Cavanagh, a building contractor. The couple had two children. Mr. Cavanagh was a soldier in World War 1, but luckily, returned home. He was the one who built the wheelchair for the old Mrs. Kelly. The family lived in Green Street in Wangaratta, and Gertrude nursed her grandmother Ellen in her last years, and paid the old, sick grandmother frequent visits. Gertrude died in Wangaratta in 1924, her husband also in Wangaratta in 1955. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Gertrude's sister, Ethel Maude, married Albert Hibbert, who also fought in World War 1 and happily returned home. Ethel Maude was very fond of her grandmother, Ellen Kelly, and should also be credited for the care and support shown to the old lady. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In September 1911, a reporter from "Sydney Sun", named William Cookson, interviewed some people in Glenrowan, trying to find out more about the Kelly family. An old resident told him:[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"I don't think you know that Kate Kelly's oldest son is still at Glenrowan. But he is, and he's a most exemplary citizen generally. He started on scratch with nothing. Now he's got a bee farm, he's got money in the bank, and he's going to be married to a nice young lady belonging to a respected family. He works hard. He doesn't smoke or drink, and in many respects he's a good practical lesson in quiet citizenship to a lot of people down there. There was not much the matter with Kate, except affection for her brothers, who had been outlawed for protecting her." [/FONT]

http://www.nedkellysworld.com.au/history/familytree/katekelly.html

Following her death her children were raised by her mother Ellen, Neds mother.

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#6 03-09-2011 08:48AM

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Here is a timeline on Ned Kelly's life, and, I have highlighted the period 1878 to 1881 to put it in perspective.

Time Line of Events in Ned Kelly’s Life

1850
John Kelly and Ellen Quinn marry in St Francis Catholic Church

1855
Ned Kelly was born near the township of Beveridge, in Victoria.

1857
Joe Byrne born near Beechworth, in Victoria.

1859
Steve Hart born near Wangaratta, in Victoria.

1861
· Dan Kelly born near Beveridge, in Victoria.
1864
Kelly family moved to Avenel, Victoria. Ned attended school.

1865 - 1866
Ned Kelly saved Richard Shelton from drowning in Hughes Creek at considerable risk to his own life.

1866
Red Kelly died in December

1867
They Moved to north-east Victoria
1869
Ned was arrested for the alleged assault of a traveller.

1870
Ned was arrested on suspicion of being Power's accomplice. Police detained Ned for nearly 2 months, but the case against him was dismissed for 'lack of evidence'.

.

1871
Ned was arrested and charged with horse theft. However when it was shown Ned had been in gaol at the time the horse had disappeared, the charge was amended and he was instead convicted of 'receiving a stolen horse'.

1877

Steve Hart arrested and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for 'illegal use of a horse'.

Ned arrested for drunkenness. Afterward he maintained he was not drunk but had been drugged. Dan Kelly tried and imprisoned for 3 months for 'causing willful damage to property' at Winton.

1878 - The Kelly Outbreak
April
Fitzpatrick 'Affair'. Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick was injured at the Kelly homestead attempting to arrest Dan Kelly for horse theft without a warrant. Ned and Dan retreated to bush land in the Wombat Ranges in Victoria and began panning for gold.

October
Ellen Kelly tried and sentenced by Sir Redmond Barry to 3 years gaol for the attempted murder of Constable Fitzpatrick.

Stringy bark Creek Gunfight. 26th - 'Birth' of the Kelly Gang after the shooting deaths of 3 police officers: Those involved were Ned and Dan Kelly and their friends, Joe Byrne and Steve Hart.

November
Kelly gang members were legally declared Outlaws.

December
Bank Robbery. The 'Kelly Gang' took hostages at the Faithfull's Creek homestead then successfully robbed the nearby Euroa Bank in north-east Victoria. 'Cameron' letter was posted.

1879
February
Bank Robbery. 7th-10th - The 'Kelly Gang' held up the town of Jerilderie and robbed the Jerilderie Bank of New South Wales.

March
Letter written by Ned posted to Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of N.S.W.

Nothing public was heard from the gang after this time until June the following year.

Glenrowan Siege 26th - 28th
26th - 27th Ned and Steve take hostages, hold up the Glenrowan Inn, and instruct that part of the railway line at Glenrowan be torn up, all as part of a plan to engage police in a direct battle, beginning with the intended derailment of the police special train.

28th - Released hostage, Thomas Curnow, forewarned the train driver and the train was halted safely, with no one injured. Escaped hostage, Constable Bracken, directed the newly arrived police to the Glenrowan Inn. The police then stormed the Inn and a gunfight began. The gang wore 'home-made' armour made of farming plough shares for defense against police gunfire.
Joe Byrne - shot and killed during the siege.

Ned captured - Ned was shot and badly injured but escaped the inn, collapsing nearby due to loss of blood. In the dawn light, weak and in pain, still wearing the armour, he returned to the inn and engaged a back line of police in a solitary gunfight. His attempt to rescue his brother Dan and Steve Hart later became known as his famous 'last stand'. Ned was shot in the legs and captured.

Dan Kelly and Steve Hart - both died inside the inn. Their cause of death undetermined, but presumed to be suicide.

October
28th & 29th - Ned's Trial - Although being charged with a capital crime, Ned's trial was rushed, taking 2 days. He was convicted of the willful murder of Constable Thomas Lonigan and sentenced to execution by hanging.

Public meeting held at the Hippodrome in Melbourne, seeking that the life of Ned Kelly be spared. Petition for reprieve organised and presented to the Governor. Over 30,000 signatures were collected on the petition.

11th - Ned executed (by hanging) at the Melbourne Gaol, aged 25 years. His death was witnessed by numerous press agents, and his last words were reported variously as "Ah well, I suppose" and "Such is Life". He was said to have died bravely.

1881
Ellen (Kelly) King released from the Melbourne Gaol in February.

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#7 03-09-2011 10:23AM

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Probably the best Ned Kelly site

http://www.ironoutlaw.com/html/documents.html

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#8 03-09-2011 11:59AM

man1

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Thanks for all the effort put in on the subject.

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#9 03-09-2011 12:22PM

CDfm

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man1 wrote: »

Thanks for all the effort put in on the subject.

They do seem like a hard working family and when you look past Ned to Ellen and Kate you get the feeling that they did get provoked and the man broke.

I am getting back to my Irish Criminal Roots .We gave Australia Alexander Pearse.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=66604185&postcount=19

And the US got Patrick Murphy A/k/a Frank Carter

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=69820578&postcount=38

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#10 03-09-2011 01:05PM

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For those who do not know the Kelly story here is the key event

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Riding to Disaster - The Police and Stringybark Creek [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]
by Marian Matta[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]The killings of three Victorian policemen at Stringybark Creek on 26th October 1878 was, and thankfully remains, the worst incident of its kind in this state's history. Ned Kelly, his brother and their mates were unarguably the killers but I'd like to discuss the extent to which the police force itself contributed to the deaths of its members. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]The situation leading up to the Fitzpatrick Incident on 15th April 1878 is well known. It's enough to say that the already thorny relationship between the Kelly clan and the police force had been aggravated by Ned's new horse-thieving career. In addition, as Ian Jones describes in Ned Kelly: A Short Life, government budget cuts had put a severe strain on the force. Ian's book also contains the best summary of the Incident. In the context of this article, it doesn't matter what happened then. I'm more concerned with what happened afterwards. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]When Constable Alex Fitzpatrick eventually made his way back to Benalla with his tale of shovels, revolvers, gunshots and a potentially murderous attack, his sergeant, James Whelan, undoubtedly recognised a golden opportunity to carry out Supt. Nicolson's 1877 directive to "take the flashness" out of the Kellys and deliver the killer blow to Ned in particular. As Robert Drewe put it in 'Our Sunshine', "Attempted murder of a policeman by the Kellys! The suddenly, blissfully, dead-meat Kellys."[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Whelan could have tackled this situation in a number of ways but he chose to go in hard. (It has been suggested that Whelan or his superiors may have seen an opportunity to strengthen their positions at a time when government cutbacks threatened the careers of police officers. It's a possibility.) The warrants issued for Ellen Kelly, Bill Skillion, William 'Brickey' Williamson, and Dan and Ned were for their parts in an "attempted murder" of a policeman, even though it was clear that Fitzpatrick's wound was relatively slight, that his story was a bit far-fetched and that he had been tended to, however roughly, and set on the road back to Benalla after the incident. These warrants, the arrests of Bill, Brickey and Mrs. Kelly and their subsequent remands without bail, and the posting of a reward for Ned would have left him with no illusions about how he and Dan would be treated were they to be arrested.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]This approach would also have had the effect of hardening the attitude of individual police members towards Ned. After all, despite Fitzpatrick's dismal reputation and shaky story, he was being portrayed as the victim of a potentially murderous attack. The police attitude was understandable but it was not helpful. It manifested as a number of threats of terminal violence aimed at Ned. Three have come down to us through oral means, those made by Inspector Brooke Smith, Senior Constable Strahan and Constable Lonigan. It should be pointed out that there is no hard evidence for any of these threats. During a raid on the Kelly home, Brooke Smith is supposed to have said, "See all the men I have today. I will have as many more tomorrow and blow him into pieces as small as the paper that is in our guns." The threat might be unsubstantiated but it is fact that after Stringybark Creek, Brooke Smith decided the best place for him was in his bed with a police guard outside his bedroom door and he vigorously avoided any possible contact with Ned. Ned's uncle by marriage, Pat Quinn, swore an affidavit in November 1880 to the effect that Strahan had said he would shoot Ned with one revolver and place another beside his body, then swear that he had killed Ned in self-defence. The following year at the Royal Commission, Chief Commissioner Frederick Standish was more than happy to describe Strahan as "a blathering fellow" and in 1898, Frank James, a policeman of long standing and high reputation, expressed his opinion in a letter to ex-Supt. John Sadleir that Strahan's injudicious comment had been the cause of the whole tragedy. Strahan and Fitzpatrick would be the force's scapegoats for years to come.[/FONT]

It's possible that other troopers harboured murderous intentions. It's also possible that Ned or his informants exaggerated the intensity of the threats - we'd be naive to assume we know the full extent of police feelings.

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]After the first arrests, the police initially concentrated on searching the area of the Eleven Mile Creek. If Ned is to be believed, raids on the Kelly home had been a feature of their lives for several years but now they had a new intensity. In May 1881, 15-year-old Grace Kelly told the Royal Commissioners (on an impromptu visit to the Eleven Mile), "On one occasion Detective Ward threatened to shoot me if I did not tell him where my brothers were, and he pulled out his revolver. The police used to come here and pull the things about. Mr. Brooke Smith was one of them. He used to chuck our milk, flour and honey on the floor. Once they pulled us in our night clothes out of bed. Sergeant Steele was one of that party." (It was possibly not coincidental that three weeks later, Steele told the commissioners that the time of Ellen's arrest was "the only occasion I visited Mrs. Kelly's place at night or disturbed her in any way at night.") After Grace had spoken, Ellen Kelly added that after she came home from gaol she found "her children's clothes were rotten because of their having been thrown out of doors by the police. The police also had destroyed a clock and a lot of pictures and had threatened to pull down the house over their heads." [/FONT]
In early May, acting on information received, (apparently from Pat Quinn) SC Strahan, Detective Ward and Consts. Mooney, Hayes and Whitty searched the area around Bullock and Ryans Creeks but failed to find anything. Ward conceded later that they "hadn't gone high enough". As far as I know, this party was armed only with standard-issue revolvers. Despite his obvious faults, Ward was a shrewd judge of character and a quite brave man (but with a strong sense of self-preservation!). He said, "I thought [the Kellys] would fight but I never had the remotest idea they would shoot. I knew Ned Kelly would fight. I had a fight with him once before. I would not leave Melbourne with a small revolver if I thought they would shoot." This view of Ward's was later echoed by McIntyre. Ward had also formed the opinion that the local people believed the police were frightened of Ned.
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]In July Sadleir took over as head of the newly-formed North-East police district. By August he was planning two search parties which he hoped would flush out the Kellys or at least "cause a commotion in their camp." If the plan had been undertaken at this point there's a good chance it would have succeeded, that Ned and Dan would have been apprehended as they made a run for it. We'll never know. Unfortunately, the search had to be delayed for several crucial weeks. Sadleir filled in the time by sending Ward out to gather better information on the Kellys' whereabouts.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]In the second week of October, Brickey, Bill and Ellen were tried, found guilty and given prison sentences which many people from all levels of society considered harsh. Back in May, Pat Quinn had advised his nephews to give themselves up, saying that if anyone was giving them contrary advice it was not for Ned and Dan's good. Ned's angry response had been that he would shoot anyone who interfered with him. However, with the three now convicted and locked up, Pat Quinn made an approach to the authorities with a remarkable offer - the Kelly brothers would give themselves up if their mother was released. This offer is usually presented as a direct approach to Police Magistrate Alfred Wyatt by Quinn with a clear offer directly from the Kellys. Wyatt's evidence to the Royal Commission - and his recollection of the event - is somewhat more vague, to put it mildly![/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]He couldn't directly identify Pat, although his evidence leaves no doubt who made the approach. He wasn't even sure if Pat had spoken to him or to a policeman who had then consulted Wyatt. However, he was utterly certain that both Pat and Wild Wright were prepared to bring Ned and Dan in if their conditions were met. It's hard to believe that such an offer would have been made if the Kellys weren't prepared to play along. Wyatt passed on the offer (to Whelan, he thought) but this one opportunity for dialogue was rejected. Of course the force was in no position to agree to such terms but in retrospect it seems to have been the last chance for a peaceful resolution.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]After the trial a flurry of correspondence passed between Sadleir, Supt. Nicolson, Inspector Secretan in Melbourne and Ward, and all agreed it was time for a concentrated search. On 25th October, a scant fortnight after Ned's mother and friends had been gaoled, the search parties set out. As Ian Jones explains in Ned Kelly: A Short Life, a clerical error gave the impression that a total of thirteen men in three parties were departing and the Kellys' excellent bush telegraph may have passed this information on. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]After reading all the evidence, I've drawn a few conclusions about the state of play at this point.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Sadleir did not seriously consider the possible effect the outcome of the trial might have had on Ned's state of mind. Instead, the search parties were sent out at the first possible opportunity. There is a possibility he hadn't heard about the surrender offer conveyed by Wyatt.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Kennedy believed he had a good idea of where Ned and Dan were but thought they were quite a way east of Stringybark Creek, perhaps near the upper King Valley. His encouragement of parrot-shooting by McIntyre on October 25th and his splitting of the party on the 26th clearly show that he "knew" the Kellys were a safe distance away.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Sadleir was not aware of what weapons the Kellys possessed. Ward had reported Ned as having a gun and a revolver although he (Ward) was inclined to think he might have only the revolver. They weren't aware of Dan's gun. It appears Sadleir thought only to provide extra ammunition for the standard-issue Webley revolvers, and it was Kennedy's own last-minute decision to supplement his party's weapons with the Spencer repeating rifle and the double barreled shotgun (not the "state of the art Martini Henry rifles", as recently stated.) [/FONT]

Despite the charge of attempted murder against Ned, many members of the police force, McIntyre and Ward among them, believed he would not shoot.[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif] The Royal Commissioners concluded Ned and Dan had "no murderous intent" and Sadleir later came out with the odd comment that he felt safe travelling from Benalla to Mansfield alone after the killings because he "was satisfied that men new to crime of this character would get away from the scene as far and speedily as possible."[/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Bear in mind these same men were supposed to have tried to murder Fitzpatrick.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Although he was probably aware of the depth of feeling against the Kellys, Sadleir issued no instructions to the members of the search parties as to how they should act if they encountered their quarry. In turn, Kennedy did not discuss anything with his men, even after McIntyre and Lonigan had indicated a preparedness to shoot as they were approaching Stringybark Creek. (When McIntyre described their race to shoot a snake and his cry of "First blood, Lonigan!" he seemed curiously unaware of the implication of this incident.)[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Neither search party set out with the expressed intention of bringing back the bodies of Ned and Dan but there's little doubt that they would have gone this far if it became necessary. The body straps carried by Kennedy's party were a clear indication of that. Julian Burnside QC has written that the straps were possibly included as Kennedy thought there was a chance he'd be bringing back the bodies of his own men. With all due respects to Mr. Burnside, I think this is a somewhat unrealistic view[/FONT]. (Anyone who is interested in the legal position of the police should read Regina v. Edward Kelly by Prof. Louis Waller in Ned Kelly: Man & Myth, and The Trial Of Ned Kelly by the current Chief Justice of Victoria, John Harber Phillips.)

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Thirty-five years after the event, Sadleir wrote, "If the Kellys were not such savages, if they were men more confident in their own courage, what kudos they might have earned for themselves! They might have sent these police back to their barracks bound in their own handcuffs. Such an exploit would have largely extenuated all their past misdoings." In reality, carrying out such an amusing stunt was not an option open to the Kellys. Police actions - and Ned's interpretation of those actions - had left them with five choices:[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]They could surrender, a decision that was easier said than done. Either they would have had to make their way to a police station, avoiding the searching troopers, or perhaps they could have sent Joe Byrne or Steve Hart into the police camp with a metaphorical white flag, hoping they didn't get shot by mistake. Assuming Ned and Dan weren't then shot 'in self defence' by an avenging trooper (and let's face it, it wouldn't be the first or last time such a thing had happened) they would have inevitably faced long prison terms or even death.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]They could sit tight at their camp on Bullock Creek. If they weren't discovered it would just be a temporary respite. If they were discovered, Ned believed the troopers would "shoot us down like dogs at our work". Perhaps this wasn't just paranoid thinking - McIntyre stated to the Royal Commission, "We never expected an attack. We thought they might defend themselves if we attacked them." Four heavily armed troopers attacking two wanted men would, in my opinion, be treading a fine legal line.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]They could make a run for it, but Ned felt they had "poor horses" and "bad arms" and with the country "woven with police" their chances were slim.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]They could improve those chances by bailing up the police camp and taking the firearms and horses.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]They could ambush the camp and kill the troopers.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]In consultation with the others, Ned made his choice and the rest, as they say, is history.[/FONT]
In writing this piece I'm not attempting to exonerate Ned Kelly. In his brief life he made some lousy decisions that led to disastrous results, especially the one to add "wholesale and retail horse and cattle dealing" to his CV. Even after the Fitzpatrick Incident, Ned, Dan, Ellen and/or whoever was involved could have accompanied Fitzpatrick back to Benalla, made a clean breast of it and worn the consequences.
Neither am I saying the police actions were illegal or even unusual. If the operation had gone as planned, with the Kelly brothers either arrested or killed, it would have been viewed as a successful strategy. Instead, it went wrong and I believe the reason for that lies partly in the way the police handled matters between April 15th and October 26th. Stringybark Creek was a disaster with unimaginable repercussions, but it was not a disaster of just one man's making.

http://www.bailup.com/history.htm

They were famous for their armour

http://www.bailup.com/armour.htm

A simple account of The Glenrowan Siege -the Gangs Last Stand

THE GLENROWAN SIEGE - June 1880 The following pages cover the basic story of what took place, broken down into sections such as:
The Plan;
The Prelude;
The Battle;
The Battle Part two;
The Last Stand;
The Finale.
The Aftermath.

Neds Account on his own words - the famous Jerilderie Letter

The Jerilderie Letter brings Ned Kelly's distinctive voice to life, and offers readers a unique insight into the man behind the legend. One of only two original documents by Ned Kelly that are known to have survived, it was dictated by Ned Kelly to Joe Byrne in February 1879 and is the only document providing a direct link to the Kelly gang and the events with which they were associated.
Approximately 8000 words long, this letter has been described as Ned Kelly’s ‘manifesto’. It passionately articulates his pleas of innocence and desire for justice for both his family and the poor Irish selectors of Victoria's north-east. The intensity of Kelly’s antagonism towards the police is clearly discernible.
It outlines Ned Kelly's troubled relations with the police and offers his version of the events at Stringybark Creek, where three policemen were killed in October 1878. Written before the Kellys’ raid on the Riverina town of Jerilderie in February 1879, Kelly intended to have it published as a pamphlet. After stealing over 2000 pounds from the Bank of New South Wales, the gang took over the town for several days. During that time Kelly sought out the town’s newspaper editor, who was nowhere to be found. The bank's accountant, Edwin Living, offered to accept the letter and pass it on to Gill. Kelly gave it to him saying, 'Mind you get it printed, or you'll have me to reckon with next time we meet.' Undeterred, Living ignored the order.
Living and the Bank’s manager delivered the letter to the Melbourne office of the Bank of New South Wales. It was returned to Living after Kelly’s trial and execution. The letter remained in private hands until it was generously donated to the Library in 2000.

http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/our-collections/treasures-curios/jerilderie-letter

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#11 03-09-2011 01:20PM

CDfm

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Read a bit on Neds Ma - bootlegger and sexually liberated in the 60's - the 1860's that is.

KELLY, ELLEN (c.1832?1923), matriarch and mother of Ned Kelly, was born in County Antrim, Ireland, fourth of eleven children of James Quinn, farmer, and his wife Mary, née McCluskey. Ellen had an adventurous spirit that rebelled against any confinement and led her often to play truant from school and roam the countryside?a practice that left her able to read but not to write, and with a lifelong affinity for horses and the land. The Quinns, then numbering ten, reached Port Phillip as assisted migrants in July 1841. After a period of menial work in Melbourne, James took the family north to rented farmland at Brunswick, then in 1849 a further 30 miles (48.3 km) to Wallan. Lively and slim with black hair and grey eyes, and an expert horsewoman, Ellen caught the eye of 30-year-old John 'Red' Kelly, an Irishman who had been transported to Van Diemen's Land for theft in 1841. Defying her father, Ellen took up with Red, and fell pregnant to him in May 1850. They married on 18 November at St Francis's Catholic Church, Melbourne, and moved into their own cottage on the Quinns' Wallan property. Their first-born, a girl, survived only briefly. In 1853 Red set off alone to the goldfields, where he made enough to buy a farm near Beveridge. Ellen had a daughter Anne and in December 1854 a son, who was named Edward after Red's brother. The extensive Quinn and Kelly clans tended to skirt the fringes of the law, and for Ellen and Red financial difficulties, several moves, further births and mounting police attention set a definitive pattern. Red began drinking heavily. In 1865 he stole a calf and served four months in gaol. The following year he died, an alcoholic, of oedema, leaving Ellen with seven children aged from 18 months to 13 years. As she struggled to raise her children on inferior farmland, she became notorious for her sometimes-violent temper, resulting in several court appearances. After moving her family into the far north-east of Victoria to stay near relations, she leased a selection of 88 acres (35.6 ha) there and sold 'sly grog' to make ends meet. The bushranger Harry Power became a family friend, introducing 14-year-old Ned to the life of a bandit. In 1869 Ellen took a lover, Bill Frost, and became pregnant, he promising marriage. The baby?her ninth?was born in March 1870, but Frost did not keep his word. Trouble with the law increased, with several of Ellen's siblings and offspring suffering periods of imprisonment. Late in 1872, with Ned in prison, she met George King, a 23-year-old Californian horse-thief, and once more fell pregnant. On 19 February 1874 they married at Benalla with Primitive Methodist forms. She had three children by King. Alice, the last, was born in April 1878, six months after King abruptly deserted them, and only days before Constable Fitzpatrick arrived at the Kelly home to arrest Ellen's son Dan for horse-theft. Set upon by Ellen (wielding a spade) and probably Ned, Fitzpatrick brought charges of attempted murder; she was sentenced to three years in prison. A model prisoner, Ellen was allowed, after Dan's death and Ned's capture, to visit Ned in the prison hospital and later in the cells, seeing him for the last time on the eve of his execution. According to tradition, she said 'Mind you die like a Kelly, son'. Released in February 1881, Ellen returned home to scenes of incipient civil rebellion; the authorities feared a pro-Kelly uprising. Constable Robert Graham, however, gained her confidence and persuaded her to calm her sympathizers. She settled down to become, for the first time in her life, a respectable community identity?although she was never able to rise to even modest prosperity. Her daughters Maggie and Kate died in the late 1890s, leaving Ellen to raise three of her grandchildren, helped by her son James. He continued to live with her, caring for her in her old age. She died on 27 March 1923 at Greta West and was buried in Greta cemetery with Catholic rites. Of her twelve children, a son and daughter of her first marriage and a son and two daughters of her second survived her. Select Bibliography J. McQuilton, The Kelly Outbreak 1878-1880 (Melb, 1979); M. Lake and F. Kelly, Double Time (Melb, 1985); I. Jones, Ned Kelly: A Short Life (Melb, 1995); N. Kelly, The Jerilderie Letter (Melb, 2001). Author: Jacqueline Zara Wilson

http://united-celtic-brotherhood.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=12442290

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#12 03-09-2011 01:50PM

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Ellen in later life with grandchildren , and in a car and wheelchair made for her by son Jim.

A snippet of her later life included her son Jim getting a land grant of 640 acres

In February 1881 Ellen was released from prison where she had worked in the laundry for three years, and returned to her family. Kate returned from her travels as a showgirl in Adelaide, and Maggie was living with Tom Lloyd.
Police force investigated
In March 1881, A Royal Commission of Enquiry into the Circumstances of the Kelly Outbreak, the Present State and Organisation of the Police Force took place at the request of the Governor and Graeme Berry. The reports were scathing of some of the leadership and tactics of the police, and led to reforms and the revitalisation of the Victorian Police Force.
Peace
In the aftermath of the tragic events, amid rumblings of anger and revenge, Ellen's extraordinary contribution to peace in the district, by making appearances in public with a remarkable new policeman, Constable Robert Graham, should not be overlooked. Sympathisers were to be treated reasonably and Ellen made it known she was prepared to live peacefully, but her heart must have been breaking as she rode with her son Jim, next to a member of the Victorian Police force, which had been for so long the sworn enemy of the Kelly family.
Ellen lived on till the age of 92, with her son Jim, and other family, looking after her. He built a new house on a 640 acre selection, near Kelly's Gap where Ellen loved to sit by the fire. She outlived so many of her children: Annie, Edward, Margaret, Dan, Kate, and infants Mary- Jane, Ellen Frost, and Annie's daughter Anna.

http://kellywomen.com/Ellen.aspx

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#13 03-09-2011 02:28PM

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Here is a bio of Jim the last surviving of Ellens children who died in 1946

The image above is James (Jim) Kelly
James "Jim" Kelly was born July 31, 1859.
Even though he was a member of the Kelly family
(he was Ned Kelly's younger brother and Dan Kelly's older brother),
he avoided becoming a member of the Kelly Gang
due to a series of events that seemed unfortunate at the time. Yet,
those events helped to possibly save his life and allowed him to live
to a ripe old age.

Jim's first brush with the law was in 1871 when he was twelve years
old, he and a ten year old Dan were charged with illegally using a
horse. Jim had been working for a hawker, Mr. Krafft, and when Krafft
put his horse in the Kelly paddock, Jim and Dan decided to go for a
ride. Mr. Krafft was not amused and had Constable Flood arrest them.
Luckily, the Magistrate dismissed the charges.

Jim got into more serious trouble in 1873, when he was fourteen. He
and another youth were charged with cattle stealing and were quite
harsely sentenced
to to five years in Beechworth Gaol. He was released after serving
four years.

He returned home as a full grown man, not the boy they remembered and
soon left to go to Wagga Wagga, where he ran into more trouble. He was
arrested in 1878 for horse stealing and was given a three year
sentence. He gave an entirely different name, year and place of birth
to the police there. His prison record stated that he was James Wilson
and born in 1855 in Dublin. The authorities would later learn that his
name was Kelly and that he was related to Ned Kelly. In 1879 Constable
Alexander Fitzpatrick had been dispatched to Sydney to keep an eye on
the wharves and railways for any sign of the Kellys who might be
trying to make their escape through NSW. While there he was sent over
to Darlinghurst Gaol with an older prison photo of Jim to ascertain
whether or not it was actually Jim being held there as was rumoured.
He positively identified him and the prison records were corrected.
In a March 1879 report, he says that Jim was going under the alias of
Wilson, but
oddly, a bit later in another report he says the following:

"I beg to report for the information of the Supt. of Police while I
was in Sydney in Feb 1879 from information I received I went to
Darlinghurst Gaol and saw a man under the name of McDonald who I
identified as Jim Kelly, a brother to the outlaws...he resembled his
brother Ned Kelly very much."

Jim was again a free man by early 1880 and returned home to Victoria.
He laid very low for quite some time. One report had him as working at
a Melbourne boot factory. He made an appearance at the very end of the
siege of Glenrowan when he attended Dan and Steve's funerals.

While it is not recorded that he attended Ned's trial in Melbourne, he
was in the city helping to gain support for the Reprieve Petition to
save Ned's life. Crowds would follow him and Wild Wright and the Kelly
sisters around the city and many pressed forward to shake Jim's hand.

After the trial and the failure of the Reprieve, Jim was allowed to
visit Ned one last time at the Old Melbourne Gaol on November 4th.

At the time of the execution, Jim was at the Robert Burns Hotel with
other supporters and sympathisers, and at the stroke of ten was heard
to say "Ah, well, the poor devil is out of his misery anyhow by this
time."

That very night he and Kate along with Ettie Hart appeared on stage at
the Apollo Theatre. Oddly, his name was not on the bill, it stated
"Miss Kate Kelly and Her Brother."
The police shut them down before they could do a repeat performance
and they took their show on the road to Sydney where the local police
put a halt to the proceedings.

Jim returned home and there were fears and rumours that he and the
brothers of Joe Byrne and Steve Hart might start another Kelly Gang.
It never eventuated. He told a constable that "I will not enter the
bush; I have got a good trade; I can earn 3 pounds a week making
boots; and I am too fond of going to theatres, and taking girls into
the gardens at night, for the work; but should I ever be interferred
with by the police I will not do as Ned has done; I will shoot every
man and have satisfaction."

Jim did get into one last spot of trouble in 1881 when he and Wild
Wright were arrested for horsestealing in Chiltern. One newspaper said
that just before being arrested Jim fired four revolver shots and said
"come on" to the policeman, but he and Wild rode off when the
policeman actually did come on! A loaded revolver was later found
under his pillow after he was arrested.

At the trial, the judge said that "he did not know personally whether
the prisoner was a relative to the criminal who had recently suffered
for his crimes in Victoria." Jim replied "Yes, I am, your Honor. I
don't deny it." The judge ended up giving him "five years on the
public roads of the Colony." The news reported that "on being
removed, Kelly waved his hat and jokingly made a thrust at the
bailiff's assistant." Wild was acquitted. In 1882, the pair were
before a judge again on a horsestealing charge and Jim appeared in
court in chains as he was currently serving the five year sentence.
The irons were struck off after the Crown Prosecutor reminded the
Judge that that it was "contrary to the principles of British justice
to bring a prisoner in irons into court." James told the judge that he
had stolen the mare and Wild had nothing to do with it. The judge
decided that it would be "useless proceeding against Kelly, as if
found guilty he would only receive an hour's imprisonment as he was
already undergoing a heavy sentence." Wild once again got an
acquittal.

In 1886 when Jim was again a free man he set up shop as a bootmaker
and seemed to be trying to stay on the straight and narrow.

In 1898 upon the death of his sister Kate in Forbes, he went to get
her four children to bring them home so he and his mother, Ellen
Kelly, could care for them. The youngest, just a baby, had died before
he arrived, but the three older children came back to Greta with him.
Jim devoted his life to taking care of his mother and nieces and
nephew. He never married.

Jim eventually took work as a drover and was interviewed in 1911 by
B.W. Cookson for his Kelly Gang From Within newspaper series. He gave
an emotional and impassioned interview, as did Mrs. Kelly. The old
wounds were still very raw decades later.

Mrs. Kelly (who was technically Mrs. King) died in 1923. On the death
certificate Jim listed the children that Mrs. Kelly had from both of
her marriages. He left off two names, one of them was the name Ellen
Frost, who was an illegitimate child who died in infancy, and the
other name left off was that of his brother Ned.

At the newspaper office, when he went to put in the
death notice, the lady behind the desk was Sylvia Living, the daughter
of Edward Living (Edward was a clerk at the Bank of New South Wales
when the Kellys raided it and who was the one whom Ned gave the
Jerilderie Letter to as he promised to get it published for him..but
he went back on his word). Sylvia asked Jim about what family to add
in the notice and he said "Oh, we will have none of that."

Jim remained in the area and lived on as a well-liked and respected
citizen. He died on December 18, 1946 and was buried in an unmarked
grave.
(The text above was supplied by Sharon Hollingsworth)

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#14 03-09-2011 04:27PM

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A few more of his relatives are now in the public eye.

So what next, the government in Victoria is thinking of putting his skeleton on display. His skull is still missing.

PÁDRAIG COLLINS in Sydney
DNA MATCHING has confirmed that bones found in a disused Melbourne prison are those of Irish-Australian bushranger Ned Kelly.
After his execution in 1880, Kelly, whose father, John, was transported from Co Tipperary for stealing two pigs, was buried in a mass grave at the Old Melbourne Gaol. His remains, along with those of dozens of other prisoners, were reburied in Pentridge Prison in 1929.
In late 2009 an almost complete skeleton was found in a wooden axe box at the prison site. It took 20 months of scientific examination to confirm that the bones were indeed the remains of the infamous rebel.
Melbourne art teacher Leigh Olver, who is Kelly’s sister Ellen’s great-grandson, provided the DNA sample which confirmed the match. Before that, Kelly’s bones had undergone CT scans, X-rays, pathology, anthropology and forensic dentistry tests.
The outlaw’s skull, which was stolen from a glass display case in 1978, is still on the run. But the theft of the head led to the identification of the rest of the remains.
In November 2009 West Australian farmer Tom Baxter gave a skull he claimed was Kelly’s to the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine. This claim was ultimately rejected by the Victorian state coroner, but it sparked the investigation into what have now been proven to be Kelly’s bones.
Victoria’s attorney-general, Robert Clark, said the identification was a remarkable achievement, involving forensic scientists in Australia and Argentina.
“To think a group of scientists could identify the body of a man who was executed more than 130 years ago, moved and buried in a haphazard fashion among 33 other prisoners, most of whom are not identified, is amazing,” he said.
What to do with the bones is the next question. “You can’t just bury the man,” Mr Olver said of his great-granduncle. “Someone is going to dig him up again in half an hour.”
A report that the Victorian government was considering putting the skeleton on display has been greeted with anger however by another relative. Anthony Griffiths, great-grandson of Kelly’s sister Grace, says public exhibition of the bones would be macabre and disgusting. The presentation of a corpse on display is something out of medieval times, he said.
Kelly’s last words were “Such is life.” The identification of his bones has ensured his life after death will continue to fascinate.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/0902/1224303347470.html

He wanted a proper christian burial and indeed that should be his right.

And , of course, there is the other side

"My family don't see it that way they see him as someone who had murdered 3 policemen. Someone who had been a horse stealer before that and he'd had a criminal record before that. There's been so much effort put in by a lot of people to try and turn Ned Kelly into a hero, now really I don't think that he was."
Howard Humphrey Constable McIntyre's grandson

"I know my uncle always said that Fitzpatrick would never have gone to the house if he knew Ned was there. He had certainly been pursuing Kate. Whether Kate had given him any encouragement, I don't know."
Ellen Hollow Direct Kelly descendant

"Not everyone in the north-eastern district was sympathetic to the Kelly's. Many people were strongly opposed to them and would've dobbed them in as they say."
Keith McMenomy Author and historian

http://www.bailup.com/FilmsDocumentaries.htm

And back to Fethard and the theft of the pigs that started it all off

Report from The Nationalist Newspaper (Saturday 27th August 1988)

FETHARD HOSTS A KELLY WALKABOUT

On Saturday 20th August 1988, Fethard played host to a major event, the Ned Kelly Walkabout organised by the Fethard Historical Society. The event was in celebration of the Australian Bicentennial and a tribute to one of its most famous and notorious characters — Ned Kelly the bushranger.

John Kelly, Ned’s father, came from Moyglass and was transported in 1841 to Van Diemens Land for the stealing of two pigs, and it was this local connection that prompted the format of the whole evening. The event was of major significance in that for the first time ever the precise location of the Kelly home in Clonbrogan was marked out. Furthermore, and even more significant the historically true and proud story of the pig stealing incident was revealed for the first time.

Pictured on the original site of John Kelly's house at Clonbrogan Moyglass are L to R: Phil Kelly (direct descendant), Bob Reece (Professor of Australian History), Ann Fleming (direct descendant), Mary Fleming (direct descendant), and Terry Cunningham (Fethard Historical Society). The photograph was taken during the Ned Kelly Walkabout.

Many visitors
The significance of the occasion was not lost on the 200 or so people who had come from all over South Tipperary and other parts of Ireland for the event. There were many Australians there also and Con Howard, co-ordinator, and Alan Gregory, secretary of the Australian Ireland Conference, were among a group who came from Dublin. Con Howard read out a special message from the famous Australian painter, Sidney Nolan who is international president of the Australian Ireland Conference.
In the message he promised that he will send a signed print of one of his works to the Fethard Historical Society, that may be kept by the Society or used for fundraising purposes.

Pictured on the Ned Kelly Walkabout are L to R: Theresa Mannion (RTE Television), Bob Reece (Professor of Australian History), and journalists Peter O'Shaughnessey, Stan Davis, Alan Gregory and Con Howard.

Local bushrangers
While the event was staged by the Historical Society with many of its members and friends doing trojan work leading up to and on the night, the main credit for the huge success of the event must go to the three members, the local bushrangers, who masterminded the event, Marie Crean, Mary Hanrahan and Terry Cunningham. Marie Crean and Mary Hanrahan researched and presented the Ned Kelly story, and Terry Cunningham did likewise to the local character, John Kelly, the father.

With the RTE crew filming the three coaches moved off from Fethard at 6.45 p.m., headed for Moyglass and Ballysheehan. We saw the old school in Moyglass, now a private home, which is the site of the old church, that was in use in Moyglass prior to 1837, when the present church was built. Moyglass church due far demolition soon, was our next stop and there we saw the old register and the entry of the baptism of John Kelly on 20th February, 1820.

The next stop was in the townsland of Clonbrogan and Terry Cunningham marked out, far the first time, the exact site of the old Kelly home in the mid 1800s. This was possible using the maps of 1840 and the Griffith Valuation reference of 1850. The records show that Tom Kelly, John’s father, owned three-eights of an acre and a small house there at that time. The rain fell softly as a young uileann piper, T.J. Flanagan, played the lament "Slievenamon" and the people present had the time to pander in their own minds the plight and misery of our ancestors who lived through Famine and Convict times.

The Ballysheehan Pigs
It was an again to Ballysheehan, via Dualla and the old Newpark Police Barracks, now a private house to visit the scene of the crime. Again for the first time the story of the crime was reported using the actual police report of the outrage which was finally located only a few weeks ago in Dublin Castle by Sean McSweeney of the Brú Ború Project in Cashel, and Terry Cunningham of the Fethard Historical Society. On site at Ballysheehan, John Hassett, a native of the area and a noted historian gave the evidence used in locating the homestead of Jamey Cooney who owned the two pigs, valued £6, stolen in December 1840 by John Kelly.

Ballysheehan where James Cooney, owner of the stolen pigs lived in 1840. Photo shows Terry Cunningham, Fethard Historical Society, on the site in August 1988.

Abymill Theatre
Everyone returned to the Abymill Theatre for 9 p.m. and the lecture by Professor Bob Reece, Australia, who spoke on the environment in the l860s and 1870s in Victoria in which the young Kellys, including Ned, grew up and died.

Terry Cunningham then went through in detail the research he had done and the new findings on the John Kelly story and the circumstances of his transportation in 1841. His report was suddenly interrupted by the spectacle of a crazed man rushing on the stage and through the theatre carrying two pigs, one under each arm. The ghost of John Kelly had come back to torment those present at the occasion.

When composure returned Terry paid special thanks to John Hassett, Una Ó Murchú and the Brú Ború project in Cashel and the Killenaule local history team who helped him greatly with the project. Marie Crean read out a lovely letter she had received from Australia from Mrs Helen Bendley, a descendant of Grace Kelly, Ned’s youngest sister. In the letter she seeks help in finding out the truth regarding the transportation of her ancestor, John Kelly of Clonbrogan. It is great to know that following the Ned Kelly Walkabout that we are now in a position to help Mrs Helen Bendley, other descendants of John Kelly in Australia and Ireland and historians in general. That is the real significance of the event.

A touching moment
A touching moment came when Mary Hanrahan, on behalf of the Society presented a bouquet of flowers to Miss Mary Fleming (nee Kelly) a direct descendant of Thomas Kelly and Mary Cody, Ned Kelly’s grandparents, who were married in the old Moyglass Church on 1st February, 1819.

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Ned Kelly - Body Found & Authenticated - Head is a Fake

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