WITNESS

WITNESSES TO THE EXECUTION OF EDWARD KELLY

by Sharon Hollingsworth

Ned Kelly was executed at the Old Melbourne Gaol on Thursday, November
11, 1880 at 10 AM.

There were a number of witnesses..but how many? (Yes, here I go
counting once again!)

Below is the Official Certificate and Declaration of Witnesses to the
Execution of Edward Kelly.

[Courtesy of Brian Carroll's Ned Kelly Bushranger]

Looking at the list of signers, we have the Sheriff, Deputy Sheriff,
the Gaol Governor, the Superintendent of Police, the Clerk of the OMG,
a Justice of the Peace and six Gaol warders. In addition there are two
doctors and eight reporters/pressmen. Adding in Dr. Shields whose
statement is at the top of the certificate makes it twenty-three
signed witnesses. Factoring in the priest, the two Deans, O'Hea and
Donaghy, and the young acolyte who accompanied them (but none of the
four signed the witness statement) rounds the total of witnesses up to
twenty-seven (which concurs with what Jones says in "A Short Life"
where he said there were twenty-seven official witnesses, or was he
taking others besides the religious party into consideration?). Did
Upjohn then make twenty-eight?

I am wondering were there others there that day who witnessed the
execution but who did not sign the Declaration for whatever reason
(making them unofficial witnesses)? Reading through many reports I
have seen the number of alleged eyewitnesses estimated to be anywhere
between twenty and fifty.

According to The Argus of November 12, 1880:

quote

In the condemned cell the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church were
administered to him by Father Donaghy and Dean O'Hea. In the meantime
a large crowd of persons had commenced to gather in front of the gaol,
and the persons who had received cards of admission assembled in the
gaol yard. A few minutes before 10 o'clock, the hour fixed for the
execution, Colonel Rede, the Sheriff, and Mr. Castieau, the governor
of the gaol, proceeded to the condemned cell, followed by the persons
who had been admitted. The latter numbered about 30, and included
Superintendent Winch, Sub-Inspector Larner, several constables and
detectives, three or four medical men, a number of justices of the
peace, and the representatives of the press. The gallows is situated
in the centre of the new wing, and consists simply of a beam of timber
running across the transept over the first gallery, with rope attached
and a trap-door in the gallery floor. Warders were arranged on the
side galleries, and the onlookers stood on the basement floor in front
of the drop.

end of quote

Justin Corfield in his "Ned Kelly Encyclopaedia" had an entry about
Joseph Maria Gordon, who was the Chief of the Australian General Staff
from 1912-14 who had a permit to get in to see the execution but
changed his mind and waited outside.

I searched out Gordon's autobiography called "The Chronicles of a Gay
Gordon" and there was this bit:

"....I felt a certain amount of curiosity. I thought it would be a
unique experience to witness his [Ned's] execution. I was a personal
friend of the chief magistrate of the city, and besides, having
arranged with one or two of the New Zealand papers to communicate to
them any matters which might be of interest during my stay in
Australia, I could obtain permission to be present at the execution as
a representative of the press.......I did not feel in the least happy
the afternoon before the morning of the execution, when a permit to be
present was handed to me by a police officer. My dinner that night
seemed to disagree with me, and I went to my bed feeling that I was
about to witness a scene that was more than likely to leave such
impressions in my mind as I would probably regret for the rest of my
life....." He went on to detail arriving at the gaol gates just as a
drunken Upjohn was being let in...Gordon then and there decided not to
go in and instead stayed outside with the rest of the assembled crowd.

I wonder how many folks got these permits but did not turn up? Was
Gordon the only one? These invites seemed to be the hottest ticket in
town. There were estimated to be between four and five thousand
members of the public assembled outside the gaol who were not
admitted. How many of those would have accepted if offered a ticket?

Corfield says that Alfred Deakin, future Prime Minister of Australia,
was working as a journalist at the time and was also there that day
inside the gaol to witness the execution. He adds that none of
Deakin's biographies made mention of this fact.

Corfield also says of Thomas Donaghy: "He was the RC Chaplain of the
Melbourne Gaol at the time of the execution of Ned Kelly, and visited
the prisoner just before his execution. It was Dean O'Hea rather than
Father Donaghy who was present at the execution."

This contradicts Ian Jones's statement in ASL that says that
"..preceded by the priest with the cross, the two deans [O'Hea and
Donaghy mentioned earlier in his text] reciting the sacrament of the
dying and the young acolyte, Ned walked out on to the gallery."

It also contradicts Sergeant Trainor who is mentioned in Constable
McIntyre's narrative. In Trainor's own words it says that he himself
was present at the execution and he makes mention of "Deans Donnely
[surely he means Donaghy] and O'Hea who were still praying when the
rope and cap were adjusted.."

(Also note the illustration below showing a party of four religious persons.)

Frank Clune, in the notes at the back of his book says that Henry A.
White, gaol warder, was present at the execution and wrote a book in
which he said that "Ned Kelly submitted to his fate without the
slightest sign of timidity or fear."

So it would seem that there had to be more there than just the
twenty-three signed witnesses if there were supposedly constables and
detectives, multiple JPs (versus just the one on the list) as well as
Larner, Deakin, Trainor and White in attendance (though those four
names minus the religious party would make twenty-seven). How many
more witnesses there actually were is anyone's guess.

Let's go back to the official witness list for a moment and look at
some of the players who figured in the Kelly story in other ways.

Both Superintendent of Police Frederick Winch and reporter J.D. Melvin
would testify before the Royal Commission the following year. Remember
that Joe Melvin was at the siege of Glenrowan. Also, note that the
document has the name of reporter Melvin wrong, having it as J.D.
Melom.

In a write up about the death of Melvin in the West Australian
newspaper it said: "When a well-directed shot in the legs at last
brought Ned to the ground, Melvin was the first to reach and raise
him helping to carry the bleeding bushranger to the railway van.
Very assiduously and kindly did Melvin tend the wounded prisoner
on the long journey to Melbourne gaol and an odd friendship arose
between the widely dissimilar pair, continued in prison, and terminated
only with a final handshake at the foot of the scaffold."

(I do wonder about the final handshaking bit, as Ned was pinioned by
Upjohn upon stepping out of the condemned cell.)

In "The Kelly Gang From Within" newspaper series by B.W. Cookson in
1911 Cookson tells about how he himself was at the post-execution
dinner with Dr. Barker and Dean O'Hea at Barker's home. Barker talked
about Ned's execution in detail and he and O'Hea discussed other
styles of executions they had seen and heard of in their travels. It
made quite the impression on the young lad even though it was not
quite one's normal dinner table conversation (unless they were Edward
Barker!).

You will remember that O'Hea is the priest who had allegedly baptised
Ned decades before and had been his chaplain at Pentridge Gaol.

There were a few names on the witness list that I was not familiar
with as regards the Kellys, though I am sure we have read many of the
reporters words (though they did not have bylines in those days) so I
started searching the NLA Historical Papers site and the Papers Past
site and I really turned up pay dirt on E.C. Martin of the Age. (I
wonder if he is the same person as Edward Casteldine Martin listed as
journalist from Malvern who in later years was to be in insolvency
court?)

From the Otago Witness newspaper in 1881:

"The author of the play "Ostracised: Every Man's Hand Against Them" is
E.C. Martin, chief of the reporting staff at the Age."

From the same paper in 1886 it mentioned about a new play co-written
by E.C. Martin.

"The latter gentleman wrote a weird and wondrous melodrama,
"Ostracised" on the doings of the notorious Kelly Gang, which was
produced at the Princess Theatre a few years ago. The bushrangers were
a jolly lot of fellows who kicked everybody, and made wretched puns."

(Too bad we don't have a script of it to read!)

This is from the Advertisement section of The Argus, April 15, 1881:

PRINCESS THEATRE.

General Manager, Mr. E. Huntly.

Stage Manager, Mr. W. G. Carey.

A LEGITIMATE TRIUMPH.

OSTRACISED,

OSTRACISED,

By E. C. Martin, Esq,,

EVERY EVENING.

Every Evening.

SECOND WEEK.

Triumphant Success. Great Moral

Lesson, KELLY GANG.

Powerful Drama,

Ned Kelly's Advice to Young Australia.

Great Moral Lesson.

Ned Kelly, Mr. W. G. Carey. Every Evening.

Purchase tickets box-office, and Coleman's hair-dresser,

Bourke Street to avoid

GREAT CRUSH.

(Love that bit about avoiding the great crush!)

In later notices for the play in the Argus, it mentioned "the
introduction of Dan Kelly's horse which will be ridden by W.G. Carey
as Ned Kelly" and also mentioned some of the cast of characters: Ned
Kelly, Dan Kelly, Joe Byrne, Steve Hart, Kate Kelly, Constable
Fitzpatrick and Biddy. Not sure who Biddy is! Hmmm...and wasn't it
alleged that a constable that was a boyhood friend of the gang's had
as relics the "four hooves of Dan Kelly's horse that was accidentally
shot at Glenrowan" upon his chimney-piece? (or was Dan's horse among
those found in the stables behind McDonnell's a few days after the
siege? Anyway, I digress..)

At a website about the Melbourne Theatre in the nineteenth century
there was this:

cut and paste

1881 Princess theatre

On Saturday 6th August saw the first production in Australia of
'Ostracised, or Every Man's Hand Against Them'. This play, based on
the exploits of the Kelly gang, was written by E.C. Martin with W. G.
Carey in the title role. [Editor's note: The piece was written by a
local newspaper man and was considered highly objectionable. No
reviews were posted. This didn't stop audiences from flocking to the
theatre. The part of Constable Lonigon was taken bv Mr K. Huntley. One
night when the play was being performed the real Constable Lonigon who
was in the stalls, rose up and protested against the portrait of
himself given by Mr. Huntley. The play ran all month.]

end of cut and paste

Umm.......gosh! I certainly hope he did not rise up...the theatre
would have cleared in record time (seeing as how Lonigan died in 1878,
two years before Ned Kelly and at his hand)..there would really have
been a great crush at the door then!

FIRST PUBLISHED: NOVEMBER 10, 2010

For more articles I have written see my View From Abroad page:
http://glenrowan1880.com/view_from_abroad.htm

http://nedonthenet.com/view_from_abroad.htm

For even more from me regarding the Kelly Gang see the new blog I have
started with Brian Stevenson: http://www.elevenmilecreek.blogspot.com