Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly's story has many amazing elements. It can been seen as one of a poor boy of great skill, devoted to his family, wronged by the police and the legal system and - following a tragic series of events - executed at the age of 25.
Some feel it is a strongly Australian story with Kelly as the archetypal Australian challenging authority.
There are also broader questions raised by his life. Was he a freedom fighter? Was he attempting to spark an uprising? When do people have the right to resist the law?
According to some he was a murderer and a cattle thief elevated to hero status by a public looking for a hero. He was a police killer. He used the innocent for his own ends, taking hostages in shoot-outs. Four townspeople were killed in the Glenrowan shootout when he was captured.
The story of Ned Kelly has become a source of myth, and sometimes the narrative leaves out important facts. The stories and films that focus on his life build on the myth.
June 1855 - Australian bushranger Ned Kelly was born at Beveridge, Victoria, to Irish parents John "Red" and Ellen Kelly (nee Quinn).
December 1866 - Kelly left school after his father died to assist grandfather James Quinn with the family cattle runs in northern Victoria. The Kellys and Quinns were often in trouble with police over cattle and horse theft, but were never found guilty.
1869 – Kelly, 14, was arrested and served seven weeks in jail for the alleged assault of a Chinese pig farmer. It was also alleged Kelly was an assistant to thief-turned-bushranger Harry Power, although police found no evidence to prove a connection to Power’s crimes.
1870 - Kelly was jailed for three years after assaulting a hawker and being in possession of a stolen horse. He claimed to have borrowed the horse from Isaiah "Wild" Wright and did not know it was stolen.
1878 - Angered by laws he believed victimised the poor, Kelly allegedly shot Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick in the wrist after becoming too friendly with his
Some feel it is a strongly Australian story with Kelly as the archetypal Australian challenging authority.
There are also broader questions raised by his life. Was he a freedom fighter? Was he attempting to spark an uprising? When do people have the right to resist the law?
According to some he was a murderer and a cattle thief elevated to hero status by a public looking for a hero. He was a police killer. He used the innocent for his own ends, taking hostages in shoot-outs. Four townspeople were killed in the Glenrowan shootout when he was captured.
The story of Ned Kelly has become a source of myth, and sometimes the narrative leaves out important facts. The stories and films that focus on his life build on the myth.
June 1855 - Australian bushranger Ned Kelly was born at Beveridge, Victoria, to Irish parents John "Red" and Ellen Kelly (nee Quinn).
December 1866 - Kelly left school after his father died to assist grandfather James Quinn with the family cattle runs in northern Victoria. The Kellys and Quinns were often in trouble with police over cattle and horse theft, but were never found guilty.
1869 – Kelly, 14, was arrested and served seven weeks in jail for the alleged assault of a Chinese pig farmer. It was also alleged Kelly was an assistant to thief-turned-bushranger Harry Power, although police found no evidence to prove a connection to Power’s crimes.
1870 - Kelly was jailed for three years after assaulting a hawker and being in possession of a stolen horse. He claimed to have borrowed the horse from Isaiah "Wild" Wright and did not know it was stolen.
1878 - Angered by laws he believed victimised the poor, Kelly allegedly shot Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick in the wrist after becoming too friendly with his