Ned Kelly

Ned Kelly... January 04, 2006

Hero or Villain

Ned
Kelly was he bad or good, was he the merciless killer, who was against all
authority, or a national hero?

Facts
are that he was a polite kind man who would do anything for his family. Ned
Kelly was an honest hard working man for most of his life, ring-barking trees to
cut to make houses, breaking in horses, mustering cattle, fencing and perhaps a
little cattle-duffing(not stealing ,just finding strays). Many of the settlers
in the area were small selectors who were at constant war with the big
landowners (the squatters) who, at any time, could call on the forces of law and
order to protect their interests. Is this social war the key to Ned Kelly’s
rebellion against authority?

The
Kelly Homestead

Was he the victim of a vicious system; a young man
hounded into crime and whose death fell little short of martyrdom. Even in his
own brief lifetime, he became a legend. His sister is buried in the cemetery
here .While Ned’s body has been in different places Old Melbourne Gaol and
Pentridge Cemetery’s

In his official report, Superintendent Nicholson stated
firmly, if injudiciously: “The Kelly gang must be rooted out of the neighborhood
and sent to Pentridge gaol, even on a paltry sentence. This would be a good way
of taking the flashiness out of them”.

1871 became disaster for Ned. He was sentenced to three
years in Pentridge gaol for receiving a “borrowed” mare. The borrower was his
friend Isiah “Wild” Wright, who inexplicably received a sentence of only 18
months

His mother took in a man named George King who went about
stealing horses, King disappeared after giving Ned 4 more siblings and the
police unable to find King decided to arrest the Kelly boys instead (Ned and
Dan) The trooper who came with the warrant was named Fitzpatrick, he called at a
tavern on his way to Mrs. Kelly's place. He found Dan at home with Mrs. Kelly
and the girls, as well as Will Skillion (Maggie Kelly's husband) and a
neighboring selector. Fitzpatrick made a drunken pass at Kate Kelly. Dan knocked
him down, Fitzpatrick’s gun went off and he cut his wrist. On his way back to
police barracks, Fitzpatrick had some more brandy. He then reported to his
superiors that Dan Kelly had resisted arrest and that Ned had burst into the
room and shot him in the wrist. Even the acting commissioner of police later
admitted Fitzpatrick was “a liar”. But it was too late the Kelly boys went on
the run. For assisting in the attempted murder of a police officer, Judge
Redmond Barry sentenced Skillion and Williamson to six years each, and Mrs.
Kelly herself was sentenced to three years in gaol. Later, Fitzpatrick was to be
discharged by then the damage had been done

The police hunt intensified. In late October 1878,
Sergeant Kennedy, with Constables Lonigan, Scanlon and McIntyre, rode out from
Mansfield. All were heavily armed. On the 25th they made camp at
Stringybark Creek. Making one of his regular reconnoiters; Ned spotted the
police camp and hurried back to raise the alarm believing, quite rightly, that
he and Dan would be shot on sight. Victoria police
searching for the boys were likely to shoot first. One police officer was quoted
as saying “If I come across Ned Kelly I’ll shoot him like a
dog”.

“I was compelled to shoot them, or lie down and let them shoot me it would not be wilful murder if they packed our remains in, shattered into a mass of gore to Mansfield, they would have got great praise and credit as well as promotion but I am reconed a horrid brute because I had not been cowardly enough to lie down for them under such trying insults to my people certainly their wives and children are to be pitied but they must remember those men came into the bush with the intention of scattering pieces of me and my brother all over the
bush...” from the
Jerilderie Letter Ned Kelly

Of course the shooting of the policemen put an even
higher price on their heads, it went up to 5000 pounds almost 50 years wages for
most people at that time

After the now infamous incident at Glenrowan, where the
police even shot at the women and children who the Kelly’s had bailed up,
killing one child and wounding another, one of the Kelly gang was already dead
and Ned could of escaped into the bush, but he couldn’t his brother and another
of the gang Steve Hart are still in the hotel. Ned came in behind the police
lines wearing the now famous armor, guns ablaze to rescue
them

.

The police aimed for his legs the only part unprotected
and then when he had recovered gave him a speedy trial because the Judge wanted
to end the trial before Melbourne cup day
(1^st Tuesday in Nov)

Ned Kelly’s execution was scheduled for Thursday November 11, 1880 — only 13 days after his trial. A massive movement was
launched to save his life; there were huge public meetings, torch-lit marches,
and a deputation to the Governor a petition for Ned’s reprieve from execution. A
reprieve was not to be. Just before 10am on the morning
of November 11, as a crowd of 5,000 gathered outside, Kelly's last words were:
“Arr well, I suppose it has to come to this. Such... (is
life)”

“If my lips teach the public that men are made mad by ill treatment then my life will not be entirely thrown away”
- Ned Kelly

So was he a hero or an outlaw?

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