Ned Kelly's Clare Valley hideout (The Flinders News)

02 Sep, 2010 01:37 PM

A Polish region in the Clare Valley named Polish Hill River is believed to have been a hideout for Ned Kelly during the years of 1878 to 1880.

Polish Hill River is the most significant Polish settlement outside Poland, and is home to the hut (named “Ned’s Hut”) where many of the
townspeople believe the infamous bushranger Ned Kelly resided all those years ago.

Martin Smith, of the Polish Hill River Church Museum, has had the story passed down to him through the generations of his Irish family.

Mr Smith’s family has lived in Polish Hill River for more than 90 years, and he learnt about the story through his father. In 1984, Mr Smith
shared his story with Dr John Wilson.

Dr Wilson was a winery owner, and the editor of a paper he created named “Willy Willy” which he would give out to the visitors to his winery.

Dr Wilson was looking for a story and Mr Smith told him the only one he hadn’t told him yet: the story that Ned Kelly had hid in Polish Hill River,
in Ned’s Hut, during 1878-1800, when he had an 8000 pound bounty on his head. It was a massive sum back then.

Dr Wilson put the story in his paper and journalist Chris Brice, of The Advertiser, did a two-page spread on the story in his paper.

It turned out that many, many people in Polish Hill River knew about the story, including Mr Melrose and Johnny Ruchioch (the last remaining
Pole in Polish Hill River and a good friend of Mr Smith), while the Clare Valley and Watervale Historical Societies both had records of him being in the region.

In fact, the historical society had so much information that they could trace his path around South Australia until he got to Ned’s Hut.
The hut is positioned in a very obscure and hidden location away from any nearby roads, behind some farmland.

In fact, the Victorian Police, between the years of 1870 to 1880, had no idea where that infamous Ned Kelly was at all.

– Louis Mayfield

RUINS…Pictured at the ruins of the hut where Ned Kelly took refuge were Tom Hill (deceased), Martin Smith and John Wilson.

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Big Ned loses a bit of steam.
Wangaratta Chronicle June 2010.

ON THE MOVE: A favorite with tourists, the steam engine that once sat
near the Ned Kelly statue in Glenrowan has been moved

The engine was moved from near Kate's Cottage and will now reside
just up the road in front of a local residence.

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Wangaratta Chronicle

December 18, 2009


Kelly descendant, likes shooting, the environment, and he is... Our new mayor


My great grandmother was Ned's (Kelly) younger sister.

GREAT great nephew of Ned Kelly.

A beef cattle farmer who enjoys shooting feral animals.

Environmental warrior.

Anthony Griffiths wears a lot of titles, but his latest one, mayor of
the Rural City of Wangaratta, represents one of the biggest changes in
his life.

After 21 years working at the tax office in Albury, Cr Griffiths has
taken 12 months leave to concentrate on his new responsibilities.

And two weeks into the job, he has had a taste of what lies ahead of
him, having chaired a council meeting, met with two state ministers,
and attended a meeting of Regional Cities Victoria.

But outside of his life as mayor, who is Anthony Griffiths?

Yes, he is a Kelly descendant, and Cr Griffiths still lives in Greta
West, just kilometres from the old Kelly homestead.

"My great grandmother was Ned's (Kelly) younger sister," he said.

"There's a lot of people track us down, and because we still live in
the area there is that connection."

Cr Griffiths also runs 400 head of beef cattle with his parents -
something he has managed to juggle around work commitments.

"It's the quintessential family farm," he said.
"We usually run a fair few more cattle, but with the drier conditions,
our numbers are a bit down, as is the case with a lot of other farmers
around the region."
In his "spare time", Cr Griffiths is a board member of the North East
Catchment Management Authority, and is secretary treasurer of Greta
Valley Landcare.

He is also a pretty keen shooter, enjoys family history and is a
collector of vintage machinery. Meanwhile, Cr Bill Hill has been re-elected
unopposed as the mayor of Benalla Council.

Cr Hill said the implementation of Council Plan actions, such as the development
of a long-term community plan, and completion
of major projects would be a major focus in the coming 12 months.

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WANGARATTA CHRONICLE

December 12, 2009

Siege results in new year

Council awaits full extent of what Kelly dig unearthed

Written by STEVEN BURKE.

RESULTS of the archeological dig at Glenrowan last year are expected to
be made public early in the new year.

Archeologist, Adam Ford, conducted the dig last May at the site of the
Ann Jones Inn, after the Rural City of Wangaratta received a $121,000
grant from the Department of Transport and Regional Services.

The project attracted international interest, with the ABC airing a one
hour special about the dig in June this year.

Findings from the site included a percussion cap, as well as several gun
cartridges from the battle between Ned Kelly's gang and Victoria Police
in 1880.

Council has already received a draft report into the findings of the
dig, but is waiting for a final report to be submitted.

Council's acting manager of economic development, Shivaun Brown, said
two reports would be made public, one in a technical, scientific format,
while another will be made easy for the general public to understand.

"We've still got the draft, but we'd hope to have the full report by the
end of the year," she said.

Ms Brown said the report would help provide a context for the Kelly
siege.

"As well as artefacts relating to the siege, there were artefacts
recovered that relate to the time of the siege," she said.

"So that will help provide more of a social context for the seige."

Ms Brown said Mr Ford was still working on the second document, which
will include all references and scientific information.

(thanks Sharon Hollingsworth for alerting me to this)

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In the land where Ned still rules

• Ned Kelly is commemorated with a 40ft statue in the town of Glenrowan.

Tom Adair

Published on 25 Oct 2009

The ghost of Ned Kelly has me spooked.

I have been here before, gripped by the Aussie bush ranger’s legend for 40-odd years and I need a fresh fix, a chance to finger the memora­bilia,
and to hear again a rendering of The Wild Colonial Boy.

Ned was an outlaw turned national hero – which he remains, against the odds in some parts of Australia. In truth, the Kelly gang was a bunch of ruthless
19th-century bush rangers, robbing small businesses, which small businesses? making their getaways on horseback, wearing armour plate beaten
from ploughshares, touting helmets that looked like saucepans  I think you better take another look...  and taking on the British troopers,
the what????????    committing murder.

I’ve been to Beechworth and stood in the dock where Ned was arraigned. I’ve been to Greta and Stringybark Creek, among his bolt-holes. And now I’m
braving it at the Kelly shrine at Glenrowan, a few hours drive into wispy bush due north of Melbourne.

This town is more colourful and wackier than a kangaroo on wheels. Yes, there are tourists, and other obsessives here, men disconcertingly like me, with
ample bellies and stringy hair. Standing in huddles are blokes with dogs, one of which (ominously) is called Yum-Yum.one has to wonder if this
bloke was actually in Glenrowan... By far the fiercest tourists are among the bus-load of Kiwi pensioners buying boomerangs at a gift shop.
I, too, am a boomerang of sorts.

It’s my third time here, and I still find it difficult to picture the massive shoot-out for which this town is infamous – Australia’s bloody answer to the gunfight at
the OK Corral – which saw Ned Kelly taken prisoner and led to martyrdom on the gallows.

Main Street, Glenrowan, today is busy with weekend visitors, a posse of them staring up at the 40ft statue of Ned with his rifle. Ned stares back through the
visor of his helmet. “He’s bigger than Skippy the kangaroo,” says a passing belly. “He’s bigger than Vegemite,” adds his stringily-coiffured mate.

A bunch of yawning, somewhat lackadaisical tourists is now emerging from the Ned Kelly Computerised Theatre. One, a woman, is looking teary, as if it’s
hot news to her that Ned did not survive the hangman’s noose and she’s just lost a bet that he’ll be acquitted.

“Come, Have the Adventure of Your Life,” shouts the theatre’s hoarding. “This attraction can and does frighten people.” In mockery of this claim, the
unruffled punters shuffle quietly towards the famous Billy’s Tea Rooms, passing a statue of Lazy Harry. The statue is singing, but no-one is paying any
attention. I head for Cobb and Co, two doors away, where they house a Ned Kelly Museum.

There you can buy the tackiest souvenirs – from a heavy suit of armour in black or puce, to cuddly Ned dolls, to Kelly fridge magnets. For serious devotees,
however, a heavy display of information about Ned’s ancestry (rural Irish), lots of old pictures in black-and-white, and a sense of devotion and sombre
vaunting of Ned’s status as an Australian version of Robin Hood (without tights – not recommended for Aussie heroes) is pinned in abundance to the walls.
There are plenty of Kellys still around, very much doubt it!  I’m told, and they don’t take kindly to critics of their boy.

So, after feasting myself on Ned’s credits, I saunter forth. The surrounding landscape is unremarkable. Fingers of sunlight spear the clouds.
There are bowers of gum trees, and gently undul­ating hills with little hollows, puddled by billabongs under the great Australian sky.
was this drongo even in Glenrowan?

Knowing my duty, and needing my fix, I pass underneath the gigantic Ned with his giant boots, before boldly entering the Computerised Theatre.
funny as 'Big Ned' is at the other end of town to the Animated Theatre.
The proprietor smiles, overlooked by a portrait of Ned with his infamous Colt 45.

I join a small queue as we file through the foyer into a darkened intimate space.

“It’s all right to scream,” the proprietor tells us. The lights are dimmed, the show begins – with a roll of thunder, a crackle of lightning. And then a
spotlight falls on a clock, the hands of which zoom back to 1878. Unsurprisingly, the commentary massages Kelly’s fame, carefully editing his exploits,
and then the shoot-out is duly signalled by a gunshot from the murk.

There follows the tale of Kelly’s last days of derring-do, unveiled to a backing track of The Wild Colonial Boy and a blur of animatronic action, apeing
the stand-off, deploying crudely constructed figures, life-sized in armour and troopers’ uniforms.

Simultaneously, the robots jerk and twist to the rattle of gunfire which goes on forever until the audience looks like it, too, is probably dying – most likely of lethargy.
The final twist is a rainstorm, a great effect, and the figures collapse. In the rainy aftermath, there is silence, occasional dripping.

Ned, though shot in the legs, has, of course, survived, to be carted off to Melbourne gaol – his last, and fatal, port of call.

All in all, I’m impressed by Glenrowan’s colourful chutzpah and by its innocent sylvan setting, more like a picnic venue than somewhere you’d set a bloodbath.

The next morning, I follow Ned’s journey southward, detouring past ghostly Hanging Rock – just because I like it – its swathes of gum trees silhouetted in the mist.
High-rise Melbourne looms before me and in its midst lies Old Melbourne Gaol, the must-see last niche on the Kelly fan’s hit list.

There, at dusk, with a dozen others, after a typically great Melbourne dinner, I take the magni­ficent after-dark tour. They give you a candle, and tell you tales of
execution as your footsteps ring on the flagstones, and noises-off emerge unexplained from black cells. It is not to be missed.

Then I ask about Ned’s remaining days and they show me his armour.for what its worth, Ned's armour is at the State Library of Victoria.
 I see his death mask, then stand by the gallows on which he stood on November 11, 1880.
Seconds before the trap door opened, Ned reputedly said: “Such is life.” A remorseless remark. Was he being ironic, or just mistaken? He may simply have meant
“such is death”.

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Bone 'unlikely' to belong to Kelly Gang.

"The coroner's of the opinion that it's more than likely not human and while my initial reaction was of disappointment I
am a scientist first and foremost, so I accept results and I think it shows how thorough we've been throughout the process,"
he said.

Source:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/23/2694168.htm

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Kelly centre 'needed'

$20m bid 'laughable', but support for realistic bid for Glenrowan

Written by TRISH GALLAGHER.

A NED Kelly collector and curator, involved in an unsuccessful bid to
get a $3m Kelly interpretive centre off the ground at Avenel, wants to
see Glenrowan succeed.

Matt Shore yesterday welcomed the Rural City of Wangaratta's moves to
review a centre concept for the town, funded by a $20,000 allocation in
council's budget.

Council pursued for several years a centre concept costed at around
$20m, but has said a revised look would be much more modest.

That makes far greater sense to Mr Shore, who said the earlier ambitions
for Glenrowan were "laughable".
no doubt about that, the plan was a joke! Glenrowan does not need a monster above town.

But he said a centre is 'needed' so rare 1880s and 1890s material
relating to the Australian legend can be respectfully displayed and
admired, not hidden away in cupboards.

Mr Shore curated 'Ned: The Exhibition' at the old Melbourne Gaol in
2001-02 and another Kelly exhibition at Beechworth's Burke Museum in
2005-06.

Both displayed a lot of original artefacts held by private collectors,
such as Ned Kelly's favorite Snider-Enfield rifle that he called
'Betty', after he 'souvenired' it from kangaroo hunter Henry Dudley in
Euroa.

Other material in private hands are books worth about $80,000, photos,
documents, songs, films, scripts, and the armor worn by Mick Jagger in
the 1970s Kelly film.

"I have access to all this material but there's nowhere to put it," Mr
Shore said.

"There has to be a nationally significant centre - people are willing to
put this material on display, anonymously.

"If Glenrowan is fair dinkum about doing something for less than $20
million, I'm out there putting my hand up."

Mr Shore said the Avenel project was proposed for land owned by Bill
Shelton, a grandson of Richard Shelton, the boy Ned Kelly famously saved
from drowning and received a green sash for bravery.

The Avenel feasibility study and business case was carried out by
consultants, Urban Enterprise, whose managing director, Matt Ainsaar,
said the project failed because it couldn't attract the $3 million in
funding.

lets hope a home is found before it is too late.
 

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Smoke reignites horror memories of icon destroyed


Written by STEVEN BURKE. (Wangaratta Chronicle)

When the chips were down and the pressure was on, Bob Hempel's true
character came to the fore.

Mr Hempel faced his worst nightmare yesterday when smoke billowed from
the ceiling of the Glenrowan Tourist Centre, reviving memories of the
1997 fire that destroyed his iconic business.
the business was not destroyed, it was damaged in part...the show went on the next day!

"I smelled it and then the smoke started to get thicker," he said.

"The beautiful thing is, I stayed calm and panicked like everyone else."

Mr Hempel immediately sought help from his neighbors at the Billy Tea
Rooms and evacuated the small number of people who were on a tour in
his building at the time.

Four CFA units attended the call-out, which fortunately didn't develop
into a full blown fire.

Wangaratta CFA fire officer, Greg Mitchell, said the smoke was caused
by a small fire in an electrical transformer.

"The CFA and the owner got an electrician in who eventually got to the
source of the problem," he said.

"We were reluctant to leave without first finding the cause of the
smoke as the building has a high fuel load.

"It's an icon of the North East and because of the past fire, we would
hate to not have figured out the cause and then for another fire to
occur."

See also: Blaze in Town

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Glenrowan Railway Station – Encouraging Response from Minister

Source: Media Release Bill Sykes

“Encouraging” is the word Nationals MP Bill Sykes used to describe the Minister for Public Transport’s response to his
request in Parliament that Glenrowan Railway Station be re-opened as part of the upgrade and standardisation of the
North East Victoria rail corridor.

Dr Sykes said, “Whilst it is still early days, it is encouraging that the Minister for Public Transport, Lynne Kosky, has
acknowledged the limited public transport services at Glenrowan.

“The Minister wrote, “I appreciate that Glenrowan currently has very limited transport services particularly for local
residents, and DOT (Department of Transport) is committed to improving public transport access for both the residents
of Glenrowan as well as visitors and tourists to the
region.”

Dr Sykes continued, “The Minister is also supportive of surveys being undertaken by the Department of Transport in
conjunction with Glenrowan residents to assess local community and tourist transport needs.

“The surveys are to be undertaken this month which is also encouraging. The survey results will provide valuable
quantitative data on current public transport needs.

“However it is critical that the Minister recognises the expected growth of Glenrowan when the township’s water supply
is upgraded and a sewerage system is put in place.

“It is also critical that the Minister considers the increased tourist visitation expected when Tourism Victoria’s priority
project of the Ned Kelly Interpretative Centre becomes a reality and when Mokoan wetlands are restored.

“The Government has committed $20m to restore the Mokoan wetlands and they expect 300,000 visitors per year.

Dr Sykes concluded, “Now is the time to re-open the Glenrowan Railway Station – it is a once in a lifetime opportunity
to put in place public transport infrastructure to meet Glenrowan’s future needs.

“I will continue to work with the Minister for Public Transport to achieve this outcome.

Time to bid Ned goodbye

...after 23 years with legend       Written by JACQUIE SCHWIND. Source: www.nenews.com.au AFTER 23 years, Chris and Rod Gerrett are parting with their major Glenrowan contribution to keeping the Kelly story alive. Their Gladstone Street tourism trio - the Ned Kelly Museum, Kelly Homestead replica and Kate’s Cottage Gifts and Souvenirs -        is up for sale with expressions of interest being handled by Melbourne agent, Wollermann and Associates. The Gerretts took over the complex from Nanette Green in the mid 1980s and have since doubled both the shop and museum in size. The museum and homestead replica are located behind Kate’s Cottage and there is also a covered barbecue area used by tourists       and for Chris’ talks to school groups. The Gerretts also arranged for the big Ned Kelly statue to be built. "It’s our donation to the town really," Chris said. "It’s the most photographed item there." The Kelly complex has received praise from many visitors including well-seasoned travellers who have seen it all. Chris said three years ago, Catriona Rowntree and the Getaway team visited the Ned Kelly complex to shoot a segment. "She said it’s just the best Kelly museum," Chris recalled. "They spent about one and a half hours just looking at everything. "It aired at least three times that we know." Chris said it was amazing how many visitors had some form of family link to the Kelly story, such as relatives who were in the Ann Jones Inn       at the time of the siege, went to school with Kate Kelly, or knew Steve Hart. She said there was even a visitor whose grandfather was a cobbler approached by Ned Kelly to make a pair of boots and requested to provide a       cavity inside one heel. It turned out the cavity was to hold a gold sovereign. "I don’t know if it was a luck thing or so he always had some money on him," Chris said. She and Rod said they thought the time was ripe now to focus on other aspects of their lives. "Our kids have seen more of the world than we have. "We want to see more of Australia," they said. "Rod and I are studying art. "We’ve just started with acrylics. "We want to do more of that." Chris believes Glenrowan’s attraction as a tourist destination has been enhanced by the recent archaeological dig and the streetscape works. "I think the future is only going to get better there," she said. "As time goes on, every new generation picks up the thing with Ned Kelly. "Ned is THE Australian icon - the human icon - ahead of Bradman. "The next step for us is selling the business to someone who comes along and has a passion for the story and doesn’t just think of it as a commercial thing." Chris said there was also huge interstate and overseas potential for the new owners to introduce online stock ordering to the complex’s web site. "It will take some other younger brain to take that further," Chris said.

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Ned Kelly trio stage ‘hold-up’ over line. The Border Mail. 16 June 2008.

Those on board the train making what is likely to be steam's final journey to Albury had an unscheduled stop at
Glenrowan on Saturday afternoon after they were held up by “Ned Kelly”.

Gary Dean, one of three Ned Kellys in full metal gear, had gathered with almost 100 townspeople and flagged down the
train to protest the failure to include Glenrowan as a scheduled stop in multi-million dollar plans to convert the broad
gauge track to standard gauge.

Mr Dean, who operates the town’s Cobb and Co store, believes it will cost nothing to redesign the new northbound track
to move it the two metres required to bring it in line with the existing Glenrowan platform.

Alternatively, he said a branch line and switching point could be constructed at a cost of about $1 million.

Mr Dean said locals were also considering seeking Federal Government funding for the reconstruction of a replica timber
platform to align with the existing south-bound line where a branch line already exists.

He said the “hold-up” had given locals the chance to create a photo opportunity for passengers on the steam train, raise
the profile of their cause and speak with former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer, a passenger on the train and chairman
of the Rail Freight Network Review Committee.

Mr Fischer said he supported moves to build a platform at Glenrowan, citing the desire of locals to encourage more Ned
Kelly-related tourism in the region.

Mr Dean said Mr Fischer had been supportive in advising the bid to return the rail service to Glenrowan.

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NED KELLY HALTS TRAIN 14 JUNE 2008 (SOURCE SMH)

Ned’s hiding spot pinpointed in dig BRAD WORRALL 31/05/2008 12:00:00 AM   ARCHEOLOGISTS now believe the Kelly Gang took refuge in a bedroom completely protected from the hail of bullets fired by police during the Glenrowan siege. Yesterday at the end of a month-long dig of Ann Jones’ Inn, project leader Adam Ford said the discovery had redefined the site. He said it now had international significance and compared it to Custer’s Last Stand at Little Bighorn. “We can now map the movement of the Kelly Gang in their last hours,” Mr Ford said. “The bullets that came in from police smashed through the front wall but didn’t penetrate the rear wall. “Behind that wall, which was one of the bedrooms, is a host of cartridges used by the Kelly Gang as they took refuge and reloaded and then came out and re-engaged the police. “To find that dynamic movement and understand that is incredible. “I don’t recall any other site, perhaps only work done on the Little Bighorn dig in the 1980s, having that. “It is beyond our wildest dreams.” Thousands of artefacts, some relating directly to the siege and the inn, have also been recovered. But the most exciting discovery may well be one of the smallest items found on the site. A tiny copper percussion cap from an early musket or revolver may well have belonged to Ned Kelly himself. “We know of only three weapons involved in the siege that used such percussion caps — and all three were actually owned and used by Ned,” Mr Ford said. “And because the firing cap was found within the remains of the original Ann Jones’ Inn we can reasonably surmise that it was Ned Kelly himself who last handled this tiny but hugely significant object.” Mr Ford has not ruled out returning to the site. “We can walk away from here knowing we have exhausted all the avenues on the inn site but I would like to get to the residence behind the inn,” he said. A final report on the findings is not expected to be completed until later this year. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 7500 treasures found at Ned Kelly site By Katie Bradford May 30, 2008 SEVEN-and-a-half thousand archaeological treasures have been uncovered at the site where outlaw Ned Kelly fought his way into Australia's history. The artefacts tell more about the battle of Glenrowan in June 1880, where Kelly and his gang held locals hostage at the Ann Jones Inn, than ever known before. A month-long dig at the site in northern Victoria ended today. Kelly was arrested and later hung for his actions, while his partners in crime were killed during a shoot-out that ended the siege. The inn was burnt to the ground during the siege and its remains lost to history - until now. Adam Ford, of Dig International, led the team of archaeologists involved in the groundbreaking project. Cartridges from rifles fired by the police during the siege, cartridges from the Kelly Gang's weapons and melted lead bullets that were fired into the hotel as the battle raged, were uncovered. Mr Ford said those cartridges told historians more about the battle than was ever known before. "The physical evidence of the battle is an amazing discovery, we can look at it in full details," he told AAP. "We can see where police fired rounds from outside the building, coming through the front walls and hitting the back of the wall near where the Kelly gang were. "We know this because all the cartridges are lying in a line." It's also now known where the Kelly gang was hiding out. "In the back bedroom, we found cartridges and percussion caps, so it appears the Kelly gang were going in there and reloading and getting protection, then heading back out again to the front of the building." Potentially the most exciting find was a tiny copper percussion cap from an early musket or revolver, which may well have belonged to Ned Kelly. Mr Ford believes a large part of a 128-year-old mystery has now been solved. "It's absolutely outstanding, amazing. The preservation of the artefacts, what we've found is beyond our wildest dreams." The burnt post holes and charred foundation timbers of the inn have also been uncovered. "For the first time since the siege itself, we have an accurate picture of how the famous hotel looked, how big it was, how it was built and of what was going on during the desperate, brutal hours of the gun battle." Coins dating back to the late 1850s and personal items such as jewellery, glass buttons and slate pencils were other discoveries. Melted window glass and bottles that were uncovered show the ferocious heat of the fire, Mr Ford said. Ian Jones, who has written books about Ned Kelly, was at the site today and was completely amazed by what archaeologists had found, Mr Ford said. "It's sad it's the last day, but we can walk away happy that we've found everything we could," he said. The artefacts will now be taken away and examined in close detail by specialists and reports compiled. Mr Ford's final wish is for the artefacts to be stored on public display in Glenrowan - although not on the site of the inn itself. The dig was funded by Heritage Victoria. SOURCE: NEWS COM.AU ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................   Smallness of siege site is shown up BRAD WORRALL The Border Mail 22/05/2008 12:00:00 AM Ann Jones' inn was tiny, not much larger than a garden shed. The site of Ned Kelly's last stand, where more than 40 people including hostages and the bushranger's gang took refuge, is now emerging from the dust at Glenrowan. Archeologist and team leader of the month-long dig Adam Ford says it is one of the major points to emerge from their work. Charred wooden posts that had fallen when the five-room inn was torched to end the siege have been uncovered for the first time in 128 years. Molten glass, another remnant of the arson, also litters the site. arson? I always thought the police set fire to the inn? "The outline of the inn is contained within the confines of the brick foundations of a wine shanty that was built on the site much later," Mr Ford said. "To think so many people would have been inside. "It is said that they were laying on top of each other as the hail of bullets crashed through the walls. they were crammed in, but not on top of each other. "It would have been terrifying." Mr Ford said progress had slowed in the past week. "We have worked through five periods of occupation to get where we are," he said. "It is quite complex and now that we have reached this level we need to be meticulous, it is slow going, almost tedious. "But this is our only chance to do this, we need to squeeze the life out of it, get as much information as possible —it is unlikely this will ever be done again." luckily it WAS done again, in November of the same year in fact. The team of about 20, including archaeologists and university students, is expected to move up to 400 tonnes of dirt in the dig that winds up tomorrow week. Last week two Martini-Henry shell cases, almost certainly fired in the battle, were uncovered. ....................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................... 'Exciting' finds in Ned Kelly dig. (The Age May 14) Two cartridges and burnt artefacts have been excavated from the site of infamous bushranger Ned Kelly's last stand. Kelly was badly wounded and captured at the Ann Jones Inn at Glenrowan, in north-eastern Victoria on June 28, 1880 after he took 60 locals hostage and was involved in a ferocious gun battle with police. Heritage Victoria is overseeing the month-long project involving six archaeologists, a conservator and 40 students who are mapping out the site and searching for relics. Project director Adam Ford said the discovery of the two hard brass cartridges is "fabulous" and he is confident they date back to the siege. "They are the right age, right location, so we are pretty confident they are evidence of the gun battle." Police moved from using soft brass cartridges to hard brass, just weeks before the siege. "This is very exciting. We had spent a whole week here moving very slowly and trying to understand the site so to find this is amazing," Mr Ford said. The cartridges, which came from a Martini-Henry rifle, were uncovered last Friday during a dig to the north of the main site. Mr Ford said an important part of the project was trying to identify the original outline of the inn. Two posts that date back to the original inn, burnt nails and other burnt or ash covered remnants also have been found this week. "Today is very significant because we are really getting down to where we are identifying outlines, form and function. "We're very happy with the progress at the moment, the remains are in very good condition," Mr Ford said. "The information is coming out of the ground every second, really." He said the burnt nails and posts were very "evocative" of what happened on the site. The archaeological site is very shallow - with many of the remnants being found just 20 centimetres below ground - because there has been only two other buildings on the site since. Once the dig is finished, all information gathered will be sent to Heritage Victoria and LaTrobe University. The data will be researched and analysed then added to the existing history of the battle. "The great thing about archaeology is we can look at it in a very objective way," Mr Ford said. "We're finding stuff that has not been looked at before, or seen since the siege. That information can add to the story of the siege, it's very exciting." The dig, which started on May 5, continues for two and a half more weeks. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Archaeologists find bullet cartridges from Kelly siege Wed May 14, 2008   One of the cartridges found at the scene of Ned Kelly's last stand. (ABC News: Narelle Graham)   Archaeologists believe they have found more evidence of the 1880 gun battle between Ned Kelly's gang and police at Glenrowan, in central Victoria. Bullet fragments were uncovered during excavations at the former Anne Jones Inn site earlier this month. Now archaeologists have revealed that two bullet cartridges from a Martini-Henry rifle were discovered in the northern section of the site on Friday afternoon. Excavations Director, Adam Ford believes they came from weapons that would have been used by police at the time. "They [the cartridges] were only released to the police approximately two weeks before the siege event," he said. "They were superseded reasonably quickly after the event. I mean within a couple of years. S I feel quite certain that they are physical evidence of the gun battle." ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Site of Ned Kelly's last stand being excavated. Archaeologists have begun scouring the site of Ned Kelly's last stand at Glenrowan. It has been nearly 130 years since the shootout but they hope to find artefacts from the siege that will shed new light on the episode. The dig is being conducted at what had been a vacant block of land for the past 30 years. Now the site of Ned Kelly's last stand is being scraped, dug and sifted. Project director Adam Ford says no stone is being left unturned in the hunt for Kelly artefacts. "I'm pretty sure we will find physical remains that I can attribute to that night in June 1880," he said. Kelly historian Gary Dean thinks the dig could help substantiate rumours that Ned Kelly's brother Dan escaped the siege and subsequent fire by hiding in a cellar. "Actually locating the cellar means the story, the actual oral histories from families that tell this story, means it's probably a true story. Archaeology students from La Trobe University will spend the next four weeks working on the dig and they are excited about working on the site of one of Australia's most fabled legends. Student Luke Falvey says it is a fantastic opportunity. "I never thought that I'd be working on a site like this. The guy's a legend and to be working on the famous shootout site, it's just indescribable, really," he said. As the dig begins, the exhumation of 20 sets of remains has ended at the old Pentridge Prison. It is hoped the remains include the bones of Ned Kelly. Source: ABC News. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Spade gang hoping to unearth

THE fate of Ned Kelly may remain forever a mystery because the State Government
will not spend $200,000 to identify his remains.

In a major archeological coup, the skeleton of Australia's most famous bushranger is believed
to have been exhumed in March, among those of 31 other executed prisoners, from a plot at
Pentridge Prison.

The sets of remains are being held under the jurisdiction of the State Coroner at the Victorian
Institute of Forensic Medicine at Southbank, where it was intended they would be identified
using the latest forensic technology - including DNA testing.

But sources close to the exhumation say the Department of Justice is refusing to pay for the
identification of all but two of the sets of remains.

The remains of Ronald Ryan, the last man hanged in Victoria, and Colin Campbell Ross, who
was executed for murder in 1922 and later proved to be innocent, have been claimed by their
descendants and will be identified and handed to their families

Source Herald Sun 25 May 2008.

.......................................................................................................................

Kelly 'not guilty' in trial re-enactment

SOURCE: ABC NEWS 15 MAY 2008.

Folklore hero or terrorist? Bushranger Ned Kelly (file photo). (Anne Delaney)

 

In 1880, bushranger Ned Kelly was found guilty of the murder of three policemen and
sentenced to death by hanging.

The Irish Catholic Kelly became a popular folklore figure. But how would Kelly be viewed
and treated if he was alive today and charged under Australia's terrorism laws?

Last night the idea was tested by an all-star cast of defence lawyers and prosecutors along
with a real life Supreme Court judge.

An actor playing Kelly went on trial for terrorism offences, all part of Law Week in Melbourne.

His defence team included veteran barrister Gerry Nash, who once represented Tony Mokbel,
and Rob Stary who is currently representing several men charged with terrorism offences in
Melbourne.

The prosecutor was played by the maverick former chairman of the NCA (National Crime Authority),
Peter Faris, who did not have a high opinion of the bushranger.

"Kelly is nothing more than a Irish Catholic secessionist dog," he said.

Playing the part of Justice Redmond Barry, who sentenced the real life Kelly to death, was Victorian
Supreme Court judge Justice Lex Lasry:

"Have the prosecution satisfied you beyond reasonable doubt that the prisoner, Kelly, committed a
terrorist act, that the prisoner caused a death or several deaths for the purpose of coercing or
influencing by intimidation the Government of the Colony of Victoria?"

In his defence, Kelly claimed he was acting in self-defence when he shot three policemen at
Stringy Bark Creek.

"Was it ever your intention to shoot them?" the counsel asked Kelly at the mock trial.

Kelly replied that it was not.

The counsel then asked if Kelly if he had disarmed them, what would he have done?

"Sent them packing with the message that I'm an innocent man, that my family has been
wronged and that this needs to come to an end," the actor playing Kelly said.

"I'm only defending my family."

When the jury found Kelly not guilty, the audience applauded and cheered.

Speaking to the audience after the trial, Mr Stary detailed his ongoing concerns with Australia's
terrorism laws.

"They can encapsulate any conduct," he said.

"Any person who promotes disaffection, any person who suggests or any person who thinks that
there ought to be a change of government or that there ought to be some change in the way society
is structured really is vulnerable to the commission of a terrorist offence."

Mr Faris hit back, defending the laws.

"We have a genuine problem with Islamic terrorism in this country," he said.

"We need to be as safe and secure as we can."

Based on a report by Alison Caldwell, first aired on AM.

.......................................................................................................................................

Bid for Ned Kelly's head (Source HeraldSun) Apr 20 2008.

.................................................................................................................................

                                       27 March 2008.

AN archaeological dig of Ned Kelly’s last stand at Glenrowan has divided the community.

In May archaeologists and university students are expected to start work on the Ann Jones
Inn site.

The four-week dig will peel back about 1m of top soil on the block of land where the
weatherboard inn stood at the time of the siege.

It is expected to reveal the foundations of the inn and other artefacts.

Professional archaeologist and project director Adam Ford from Dig International will work
with La Trobe University to excavate the siege site by hand.

“These archaeological excavations at the site of the former Glenrowan Inn, the location of the
siege and last stand of the Kelly Gang in 1880 aim to uncover, record and conserve physical
remains of the bloody siege which claimed the lives of three members of the Kelly gang and
two hostages,” Mr Ford said.

But the owner of one of the town’s tourist attractions says “they’ll find next to nothing”.

“People have been poring over that block of land for the past 100 years,” Bob Hempel said.

“They have been digging, standing shoulder to shoulder with metal detectors, they have gone
over it with a fine-tooth comb.

Glenrowan historian Gary Dean, who also runs a Kelly-inspired tourist attraction, believes they
will pinpoint the site of the inn.

“All they are likely to find is the site of the second hotel she built six months after the siege.”

He said it was one of the most important digs in Australian history.

“We only get the chance to do this once, we need to get it right,” he said.

“I have no doubt we will locate the post holes from the first and second inns and most importantly
finally determine where everything stood at the time of the siege.”

Glenrowan blacksmith Gary Nicholls said it had created great interest in the town.

“People are coming up with all sorts of theories, some are wanting to help, others think it is a
waste of time,” he said

The dig is a collaboration between Wangaratta Council, Heritage Victoria and the Federal Government
and is expected to cost more than $200,000.

It was originally planned to start in late 2006.

Find excites bone hunters.

...........................................................................................................................

National Trust finds some Faine friends in deed

IN 1992, ABC broadcaster Jon Faine made an incredible find in the Trading Post. For sale was an 1880 document related
to the Kelly Gang's murder of three policemen at Stringybark Creek, near Mansfield.

Two of the slain policemen, Sergeant Michael Kennedy and Constable Thomas Lonigan, left nine children between them.

The document, dated July 23, 1880, was a Deed of Settlement drawn up by the State Government, stating it would leave
£900 in trust for those children until they were 21 years old.

The Trading Post seller told an amazed Faine that he had found the deed, handwritten on three pages of vellum, folded
and tied with a pink ribbon, in a shoebox in a house he had moved to.

With no acquisition interest from the State Government, Faine teamed with two fellow history buffs, the then Supreme
Court chief justice John Phillips and barrister Jack Hammond, to buy it themselves, for an undisclosed sum.

The trio have donated the deed to the National Trust. Mr Faine and Mr Phillips were unable to attend a cocktail party
handover ceremony at the City Watch House last night, so Mr Hammond did the honours.

The trust's Victorian chief executive, Martin Purslow, said it was an "extremely generous gift" that would be displayed
at the Old Melbourne Gaol.

CAROLYN WEBB The Age Oct 17 2007.

Thanks Sharon for alerting me to this article.

.............................................................................................................................................

Source: The Border Mail 21 Sep 2007 (Thanks Sharon USA)
See also: Revitalisation

.........................................................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

NED Kelly's remains may be in a suburban Melbourne park.

But Heritage Victoria, which last month revealed the outlaw's remains probably vanished from Pentridge Prison in the 1950s or 1960s, has ruled out looking.

Suggestions are the bushranger's final resting place is one of two bluestone quarries - one of which has been turned into Fr Brosnan Community Park - in Coburg near Pentridge.

Heritage Victoria believes the remains of Kelly and some other prisoners may have been removed during drainage works at the jail.

Heritage Victoria's acting executive director Jim Gard'ner said the search for Kelly's bones had ended unless significant new evidence was produced.

"Anecdotal evidence suggests the remains were discarded in nearby quarries," Mr Gard'ner said.

"However, Heritage Victoria regards this theory as speculative and one of many possibilities.

"Heritage Victoria does not consider there is sufficient evidence to warrant excavation of the quarry sites."

Mr Gard'ner said it was possible the remains had deteriorated beyond recognition.

Kelly was executed at Old Melbourne Gaol's gallows in 1880.

His decapitated body was buried in an unmarked grave at the prison until it closed in 1929.

The remains were then transferred to Pentridge.

The disappearance of the grave was discovered during an archeological study.

The site is being turned into housing.

Heritage officials found the grave of Ronald Ryan, the last prisoner executed in Australia, and a memorial garden will be created at the site.

Source HeraldSun June 3 2007.
.............................................................................................................................................

Australia's favourite murderer is still giving the Establishment the run-around, writes Sushi Das.

IF ONLY they hadn't sawn off his head. At least then it might have been easier, in some small way, to identify Ned Kelly's remains. Even if you're not a Ned tragic, the mystery of the notorious bushranger's missing bones is an intriguing tale that shows that when it comes to Australia's favourite legend, there's no such thing as truth. Not one truth, anyway.

The latest in the skeleton saga came this week when Heritage Victoria announced that Kelly's remains, for decades thought to have been buried in the grounds of Pentridge Prison in Coburg, had disappeared. The likelihood was that they had been unceremoniously dumped in a nearby quarry after drainage works at the prison in 1960. Newspapers from Melbourne to London reported the story.

"It's quite amazing, given the historical role of Ned Kelly, the myth, the legend, the tourism potential and all the rest of it, that we seem to have been so careless about his final resting place," said a Melbourne radio announcer.

Just when you think Kelly's final resting place has been identified, up pops another expert with a different theory. Monash University heritage expert Warwick Frost says the "bones in the rubbish tip" theory is, well, rubbish. They are in fact buried under RMIT — probably in the vicinity of buildings three, five, seven and nine. (The area to the east of Bowen Street in the city).

Hooray! Finally someone who understands the real story.
Thank you Warwick Frost for setting them straight, now all we need
is to get Mr. Smith to understand the full story. Dave.

...............................................................................................................................................................

Benalla Ensign

May 23, 2007

Firearm Donated

A police-issue firearm found at the site of the Glenrowan Siege has been
donated to Benalla and District Historical Society.
The Martini-Henry rifle is now on display at the society's museum.
Discovered when the donor was digging for bardi grubs along the former
creekbank, the rifle was about 16 cm below the present surface.
Historical Society president Robin Sadler said after 120 years buried in
wet and dry soil, the butt of the single-shot weapon had rotted away.
But combined with the society's existing display of Ned Kelly's
blood-stained cummerbund, it remains a significant addition to the
museum collection.
Mrs Sadler said it was believed the gun had been dropped in the
confusion of Kelly's capture.
"The society is very appreciative of the opportunity to display this
interesting piece in the security of the Kelly Cell with the sash and
other memorabilia."
On Friday, the society will welcome Neil Colston, an expert on antique
firearms, to its general meeting.

..............................................................................................................................................................................

Ned Kelly's remains 'most likely discarded'

The HeraldSun Newspaper.

..............................................................................................................................

Police anger over Ned Kelly logo proposal

CURRENT and former veteran police officers are offended that bushranger Ned Kelly 
was suggested as the emblem for a taskforce that investigates the state's most dangerous 
armed criminals.

Sources said a suggestion the new armed crimes taskforce take on a logo of Kelly - a bank robber 
who killed a policeman - was insulting to former armed offenders squad detectives and the force in general.

The armed crimes taskforce has replaced the armed offenders squad as part of the major crime management model.

The Herald Sun believes the logo was suggested in good faith because Kelly was a notorious bushranger captured 
by police at Glenrowan in 1880.

But former armed robbery squad stalwart Ray Watson, instrumental in the capture of notorious bandits during the 
violent 1980s and early '90s, said the mere suggestion of using a Ned Kelly image was shameful.

"I'm outraged about it," Mr Watson said.

"Does that mean Carl Williams is going to be considered as a squad emblem in the future?

"Ned Kelly is iconic, but certainly not a hero.

"That emblem idea would have revered the man, not the taskforce."

One current officer said: "It's common knowledge that former members of the armed offenders squad and the old 
armed robbery squad were disgusted with the idea of the Ned Kelly emblem and what it represented."

Many armed robbery squad detectives were close friends with Sgt Gary Silk, who with Sen-Constable Rod Miller, 
was shot dead by two bandits in 1998.

The Ned Kelly idea, floated late last year, has been rejected.

"I can say that a logo containing any reference or image related to Ned Kelly would definitely not be considered," 
police spokesman Sgt David Spencer said.

Source: Sunday HeraldSun.

..........................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................................................................................

Kelly spirit rides again as sympathisers gang up on Beechworth jail developer

WHEN authorities installed iron gates outside the old Beechworth prison in the late 1800s, they intended to thwart attempts to free Ned Kelly sympathisers.

As town residents peer in through the imposing white bars today, they cannot help but feel locked out of decisions about the historic site's future.

Opposition is mounting to plans to redevelop the prison and surrounding grounds, where a young Ned Kelly served sentences spanning two years in the early 1870s and was held during his committal hearing for murder in 1880.

The 147-year-old jail, listed on the Victorian Heritage Register, was shut in December 2004 when a minimum-security, 120-bed prison was built just out of town. Salmore Developments secured the site, including buildings, from the State Government for more than $1 million through a tender process.

Heritage Victoria is considering an application by the Melbourne-based developer to subdivide the land behind the main prison buildings into 23 allotments, including 18 residential blocks where some two-storey townhouses may be built.

The developer also intends to convert the former jail's interior, transforming it into a hotel, restaurant and retail precinct.

Mal Wilson, who lives opposite the site, says the community has had virtually no contact with developers about their plans and has been denied access to the site. The grounds have shown signs of neglect, including overgrown gardens.

"We're frustrated and we're trying to frustrate the developer," Mr Wilson said. "It's undeniable that we have very little power in the decision. The only thing we can do is bond, and create a barricade to the process."

A hastily convened public meeting this month to oppose the plans attracted 100 residents, and more than 1000 signatures have been collected in a petition.

Among those against the plans is well-known Kelly historian and local resident Ian Jones.

Source: The Age Orietta Guerrera
February 14, 2007

They destroyed Pentridge, now it seems Beechworth is next.
....................................................................................................................................

KELLYMANIA SMH

"There are much more interesting bushrangers than Ned Kelly," says Brian McDonald (see My Collection) who, despite his reservations, has one of the largest private collections of books on the Kelly gang. McDonald, who has lectured on Australian history since 1975, knows all too well that of the 1600 or so Australian bushrangers it's Ned who, rightly or wrongly, dominates the public imagination.

There's a vast industry devoted to the collecting of Kellyana. This term refers not only to Ned Kelly but also his family, gang members, the police officers they killed and those who captured him at Glenrowan.

What is astonishing is how brief Kelly's activities were. The Kelly gang came to notice after they killed three policemen at Stringybark Creek in Victoria on October 26, 1878. Kelly was captured and the rest of the gang was killed by police at nearby Glenrowan in June 1880. On November 11 that year, Kelly was hanged at Melbourne Gaol. "Such is life," he allegedly said at the time.

Short his life may have been but it was long enough for the outlaw to ignite a national obsession that shows no sign of abating nearly 130 years after his death.

Kellymania is booming. Peter Carey started a resurgence when he won the Booker Prize in 2001 with his True History of the Kelly Gang. Signed first editions of this work are now worth about $400. Then there was the 2003 movie starring Heath Ledger as the bushranger, which marked the latest in a series of cinematic treatments.

Ditto the James Kelly charge sheet. This NSW Police document includes hand-written details relating to his subsequent trial at Wagga for horse stealing and a black and white photograph of him in prison gear. Its value would be $4000 plus if it were sold on the open market.

Such personal mementos are valued highly by collectors but mass-produced items are now worth almost as much. Original copies of the Minutes of Evidence taken before Royal Commission on the Police Force of Victoria are among the most desirable, with the second Progress Report the rarest of all. This 720-page document probes the conduct of various members of the constabulary. Copies are generally valued at about $3000 although one appeared recently on eBay with a price of $20,000. It didn't sell.

Worth even more would be the fabled first Kelly publication. The History of the Notorious Kelly Gang was published 16 months before Glenrowan by G. Wilson Hall, the perceptive editor of the Mansfield Guardian. Only four original copies are known to survive, none in private hands. If one was ever to appear for public sale there would be a bidding battle worthy of anything staged at Glenrowan.

Also in the "in your dreams" category is one of five legal briefs - The Queen v Edward Kelly - relating to the wilful murder of Thomas Lonigan. This 55-page document, in purple ink on blue legal paper, sold for $25,000 in June 2000.

Then there's the ridiculous: Brian McDonald knows of some so-called reward posters listed on eBay that have sold for several hundred dollars each.

These are cheap reproductions made in the 1960s and are obvious fakes. They show a photo of Ned Kelly taken two days before his execution. "It's like selling a coin dated 24 BC," he says.

My collection

Good on you Brian.

...................................................................................................................................

THE PASSING OF ALFRED SHELTON.

SHELTON. _
Alfred Britton (Brit)
Much loved, last remaining child
of Richard John Shelton and
Elizabeth Jane Skinner,
predeceasing 11 siblings, late of
Avenel. Brit passed gently on
Fri., Feb. 2, 2007, aged 92
years. Educated at Brighton
Grammar. Deeply devoted
husband to Audrey Sykes Lyons
who he now joins with gladness.
Australias last direct link, to a
young Ned Kellys heroic and
gallant Act, wherein in 1865,
Ned pulled Brittons drowning
father from Hughes Creek
Avenel and hence saved the
Shelton lineage.
He loved electricity, Warwick Le
Page, his cats and a coffee with
friends at the Theatre Royal.
Rest In Peace

SHELTON - A GRAVESIDE

SHELTON. _ A Graveside
Service for Mr Alfred Britton
(Brit) Shelton will be held at the
Avenel Cemetery, Queen St,
Avenel on WEDNESDAY,
(Feb. 7, 2007) commencing at
2.30 p.m.
BAMFORDS
FUNERAL SERVICES
AVENEL SEYMOUR
5792-1046

SOURCE: Melbourne Herald Sun.

Sorry to hear the passing of the last direct
link to Ned's bravery. May he rest in peace.

The Times January 04, 2007 The day Ned Kelly met his match

In demand: the original wanted poster for Ned Kelly The Times reported on August 10, 1880:     The four outlaws — Edward Kelly and his brother, Daniel Byrne, and Hart — took refuge in an hotel. The reporter of the Melbourne Argus, who was present, says: “The police and the gang blazed away at each other in the darkness furiously. It lasted for about a quarter of an hour. There was nothing but a succession of flashes and retorts, the pinging of bullets and the shrieks of women who had been made prisoner in the hotel . . . “Before daylight Senior Constable Kelly found a revolving rifle and a cap lying in the bush, about 100 yards from the hotel. A pool of blood lay near. To the surprise of the police they found themselves attacked from the rear by a man in a long grey overcoat and wearing an iron mask. He was Ned Kelly himself. He walked coolly from tree to tree, and received the fire of the police with utmost indifference, returning a shot from his revolver when a good opportunity presented itself. He seemed bullet-proof. It then occurred to Sergeant Steele that the fellow was encased in mail, and he aimed at the outlaw’s legs. His first shot made Ned stagger. The second brought him to the ground with the cry, ‘I am done, I am done’.”

No wonder we have so many drongos selling fake Wanted
posters of Ned on E-Bay! Now The Times Online is doing it!

...................................................................................................................

Ian Jones wins lifetime achievement award.

Chestnut

Edi Upper

A house in danger in Edi Upper.

The images above were from The HeraldSun newspaper.

The above image is from The Sydney Morning Herald.
(The Age also had this photo (I have cropped it) and an image showing 
Jim Kelly standing near a sitting Ellen Kelly)

Found: Rare pictures of Kelly gang matriarch

Steve Waldon
December 2, 2006

Source: The Age 2 December 2006.

.....................................................................................................................

Here we go again!
Did no one learn from the destruction of most of Pentridge?
Would Beechworth like that sort of housing development in their beautiful town?
Developers should never be allowed to take what was once our historical asset and turn
it into a housing development. Was it bought with this intention? Were there any restrictions
placed on it at the time it was sold? All this stinks. We have an opportunity to save what
remains of this old jail, or is it too late since it it no longer 'ours'? Dave.

Thanks to Sharon Hollingsworth for sending this in.

...........................................................................................................

Funds may quell birthplace debate
(Star newspaper Epping)

Interesting that even the paper acknowledges the fact that this house was not even
built until 1859 (when Ned was 4 or 5 years old!)
If he was born in Beveridge, he certainly was not born in that house.

Why bother spending 5 grand on signs to a place that is falling down and is almost
certain to end up as a pile of sticks because no Government nor Heritage body has
ever cared about it?

The owners do their best but are not allowed to touch it by law.

The sign alerting travelers on the Hume to the home's location was taken away years ago.

Might I suggest they spend money stabilising the building rather than show people how
pathetic it has become when our heritage is ignored. 

Maybe if they installed pokies inside it could be restored!

Thanks to Sharon Hollingsworth for alerting me to this article.

Dave.

.....................................................................................................................................

Cathedral reveals the secret of its lost bishops.

(Full article West Australian) 

For further information see what 1880 had originally from our mate 
in WA, Davo Brown. (including his images)

.......................................................................................................................

Police pistol auction points smoking gun at Kelly's sister

(Full article from The Age newspaper)

Memorabilia expert Tom Thompson believes Kate Kelly, sister of Ned Kelly, 
kept this gun taken from a policeman in 1878. The incident at the Kelly homestead 
led to the outlawing of Ned and Dan Kelly. The pistol will be auctioned next month.
Photo: Steven Siewert

See also the Comments section of 1880.

..............................................................................................................................................

Kelly Gang armour found

A report in The SMH newspaper 30 Sep 2006.

DARREN SUTTON could not believe his eyes. Treading warily across the scorched earth outside Beechworth after the 2003 bushfires, he stumbled on something he always figured must be there. 
And it goes a long way to solving one of the last mysteries surrounding the Kelly Gang.

An army of historians and folklore aficionados have been unable to establish where the armour worn 120 years ago by Ned and Dan Kelly, Steve Hart and Joe Byrne was made.

Mr Sutton believes he has found the forge where Byrne's armour suit was created by a local blacksmith, Charlie Knight, and a friend, Thomas Straughair.

The only relic he has removed from the site is almost certainly an offcut from Byrne's armour. It has lain under topsoil and bush scrub for more than a century.

This week Mr Sutton took the Herald to the site. Also on the expedition was noted Kelly historian and author Ian Jones, whom Mr Sutton invited for his expert opinion.

Mr Sutton is a Beechworth miner, fossicker, historian, tourist guide and local authority.

The Herald has agreed not to reveal the whereabouts of the site. Mr Sutton and Mr Jones say the site would be gutted within days. "I don't want to see this stuff on eBay," Mr Sutton says.

The "stuff" to which he refers is the remains of a brick hearth, evidence of an intense coal fire, cast iron offcuts, rough bolts and even smithy tools. Nearby was a line of stump holes, evidence of a long-gone building with a raised floor.

Mr Sutton had long reasoned that Byrne's armour, which is in private hands but is often exhibited, must have been forged outside a township. The Kelly gang could not have asked a town blacksmith to make body armour without arousing suspicion.

Mr Sutton deduced some likely locations of the amateur forge, but with 120 years of soil movement and the accrual of scrub, finding it would be impossible. He knew he had to wait patiently for natural forces to help. Since the 2003 fires, the bush has partly reclaimed the site of the find. Heavy rain washed away the newly exposed topsoil.

When Mr Sutton showed the armour to Mr Jones, the writer was initially uncertain. It resembled Kelly armour, but the configuration of the machined holes was not familiar.

Mr Jones checked his files, and found that the holes did resemble those in the back plate of the armour worn by Dan Kelly.

But where were the other three suits made? Mr Sutton hopes the keepers of the last bit of the Kelly mystery will one day take him into their confidence.

Well done to Darren,
he has certainly made a find!
The only way it could possibly stay unmolested is if he tells no one the location. 
Dave.

The above three articles are from the Wangaratta Chronicle, thanks to Gary Dean Glenrowan.
(August 4 2006)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Go back to original Kelly plan: Jones

(Border Mail Aug 3)

NED Kelly historian Ian Jones says Wangaratta council needs to scrap its beautification 
works of the Glenrowan siege site and start again.

That is potentially more than $2 million of work.

Yesterday, he also applauded National Heritage Minister Ian Campbell’s belief that the 
site needed to return to circa 1880.

“Sen Campbell’s statement was the strongest made so far and condemned the works by 
council,” Mr Jones said yesterday.

“But I can’t see how they can get back to that state without undoing the works that have 
been carried out.”

Mr Jones said the works had created waterways with engineering angles and concrete, 
built bridges that weren’t there and taken away native trees.

“My view is simple; we need to get back to the master plan developed in 2002,” he said.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Stoush at the old Kelly site

BY BRAD WORRALL (The Border Mail 3 Aug)

Ian Campbell and Sophie Mirabella at the Ned Kelly siege site yesterday. 

Picture: SIMON GROVES

FEDERAL Heritage Minister Ian Campbell clearly believes Ned Kelly’s siege site at Glenrowan has been desecrated and Wangaratta council needs to drive its resurrection.

But the council says “put your money where your mouth is”.

Yesterday, Senator Campbell made his first visit to the heritage listed site of Ned Kelly’s last stand to hand over $30,000 for signage.

At the same time he took a none-too-subtle swipe at how the site has been managed.

“It is clear to my untrained eye that that a lot of the work done over the years has taken away from the site’s historical integrity,” Senator Campbell said.

“That’s not just recent works but over many years.

“My view is that the site should be taken back towards the way it looked when the siege took place.

“There are going to be practical reasons why some of that won’t be done.”

Sen Campbell said a long-term management plan was needed.

The senator said major works, including the removal of the rail bypass, was the responsibility of council.

But Wangaratta council economic development manager Graham Nickless said it all came down to money.

“The removal of the bypass involves millions of dollars, to say that it is council’s responsibility is beyond the pail,” he said.

“We all subscribe to bringing it back to authentic status but it comes down to the money to do that.

“At this point in time the Victorian Government has kicked in $1.8 million, council $500,000 and the Commonwealth about $250,000.”

But Wangaratta Mayor Don Joyce said it was wonderful to have Senator Campbell at Glenrowan.

“We are all working toward the same goal and it is great to get an additional $30,000 from the Federal Government,” he said.

Senator Campbell refused to reveal the findings of federal heritage officers who visited Glenrowan to inspect recent council works.

Historians claim Wangaratta council’s beautification of the site has removed significant parts of the landscape and made it almost unrecognisable.

Glenrowan is one of 32 nationally-listed heritage sites.

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Memories of Ned Kelly to be kept alive.

Ned Kelly may have run foul of authorities while alive, but the federal government announced 
a funding package to help keep memories of him alive.

Federal Heritage Minister Ian Campbell said the government would contribute $30,000 to pay 
for signs and brochures to mark the importance of the Victorian town of Glenrowan, where Kelly 
was captured.

Three members of the Kelly gang died during a siege in Glenrowan on June 28, 1880.

"Glenrowan is therefore one of Australia's most important heritage places, and in recognition 
the site was included in the National Heritage List in June 2005," Senator Campbell said in a 
statement.

"Funding of $30,000 will be used to develop interpretative materials such as signs and brochures 
to mark Glenrowan's role in our national story."

He said while there was debate as to whether Kelly was a hero or a villain, the bushranger had 
become one of Australia's best known historical figures.

"In his day Ned Kelly was more likely to relieve governments of money rather than receive support," 
Senator Campbell said.

Kelly was hanged on November 11, 1880, despite a petition against his death sentence signed by 
about 30,000 people.

Source : The Age 2 Aug 2006.

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Source: The Wangaratta Chronicle 19 July 2006. Thanks to Gary Dean for sending this in.
(Gary's site is at www.nedkellysworld.com.au) 

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True-blue

Source: The Age Something-to-shout-about 19 July 2006.

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Historian up-beat about future of Kelly gang siege site

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Heritage row erupts over Kelly gang site

'Careful archaeological research', done with a bulldozer! (Dave)

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Source: Letters Border Mail 6 July 2006.

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Source: SMH Paul Edwards
June 25, 2006

***Perhaps someone should tell the Tourism Minister that the Masterplan was wasted, the dinner was
abandoned and the Interpretive Centre will probably be a white elephant.

News from Avenel.

See also Newspapers For & Against the works in Glenrowan.

Wangaratta Chronicle May 8 2006.

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New chapter for Kelly tale

(Source: The Border Mail) 21 Apr 2006

BY BRAD WORRALL

Sophie Panopoulos and Don Joyce at the siege site yesterday. 
Picture SIMON DALLINGER

THEY’RE peeling back the layers of the famed Ned Kelly legend at Glenrowan.

An archaeological dig of the Glenrowan Inn, the scene of the 1880 siege and capture 
of the bushranger, will start in spring.

It could also be a springboard to a project that would deliver a $15 million museum, 
as well as 126 jobs and $6.9 million to the region.

The dig will peel back about ½m of top soil on the block of land, where a pony now 
grazes, and is expected to reveal the foundations of the inn and other artefacts.

Wangaratta Mayor Don Joyce said it was quite likely bullets and shell cases would 
be found.

“This dig will be of national significance, already experts have said it is the most 
prominent dig in recent memory,” he said.

“It will also be the start of a much bigger project that will include a raised walkway 
around the site, complemented by storyboards and maps of where the bodies of the 
three men fell.

“Work will most likely begin in either September or October.”

Member for Indi Sophie Panopoulos yesterday chipped in $121,000 of federal funds 
for the project that will cost more than $210,000.

“Glenrowan is recognised on the national heritage list and with that recognition 
comes the responsibility to preserve and advance its history,” Ms Panopoulos said.

“This project is one small part of that.

“The community and council have done a lot of work to improve Glenrowan but 
there is still a long way to go to achieve the status the legend demands.

“No matter what side of the Kelly argument — hero or criminal — you are on, there 
is no questioning the importance of this site.

“The story needs to be told without bias so people can interpret the events that 
happened here.”

Council economic development manager Graham Nickless said the long-term goal 
was to build a $15 million interpretative centre.

“We want to do justice to the legend,” he said.

“We already have 100,000 visitors to Glenrowan each year but also know that 3.5 
million people travel past on the Hume Highway every 12 months.”

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Archaeologists called in to unearth 

more Kelly history.

The Chronicle Apr 21 2006.

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On the trail of Ned Kelly  New Zealand Herald

Ned Kelly has been immortalised on film, celebrated in song and captured on canvas.

In Australia he is an icon, entrenched in the psyche, a true legend, and one which has spread across the Tasman to New Zealand.

Whether you consider him larrikin or criminal, victim or hero, you can now explore the many pieces of the puzzle which makes up the notorious bushranger by following the Ned Kelly Touring Route in southeastern Australia.

The touring route guides the traveller around the various Kelly sites in Melbourne, northeast Victoria and southern New South Wales with the aid of storyboards, maps and even a new audio guide.

This allows you to get a feel for what really happened at places like the Old Melbourne Gaol and the towns of Avenel, Euroa, Stringybark Creek, Glenrowan, Beechworth, Benalla and Jerilderie, which figure large in the Kelly legend.

Along the way you can also enjoy a sampling of Australia's undervalued but delightful small country towns and a countryside which often looks very different to what we see in New Zealand.

If you want to go back to the very beginning there is even a storyboard on the site of the Kelly family home in Moyglass, County Tipperary, Ireland, where Kelly's father Red lived before being transported to Australia in 1841.

But a more realistic starting point is the Victorian State Library in Melbourne, which displays Kelly's personal testament, the famous Jerilderie Letter, dictated by the outlaw himself to Joe Byrne in February, 1879.

It is the only document providing a direct link to the Kelly Gang and the events with which they were associated.

The 8000-word letter has been described as Kelly's manifesto.

It passionately articulates his pleas of innocence and desire for justice for both his family and the poor Irish of Victoria's northeast.

Donated to the State Library in 2000, the Jerilderie Letter brings the famous outlaw's distinctive voice to life, and offers readers an insight into the man behind the legend.

At the Old Melbourne Gaol, where Kelly was executed on November 11, 1880 at the age of 25, you can see the holding cell where he lived after being condemned, the gallows scene and the suit of armour worn during his final battle with the police at Glenrowan.

From the goal where the Kelly saga ended so sadly, it's a huge jump - though only 120km by road - to the town of Avenel where the 11-year-old Kelly was hailed as a hero after he rescued another boy from drowning.

The boy's parents presented Kelly with a green silk sash which - in an ironic link - he wore at the Glenrowan shoot-out.

Today it is displayed at the Benalla Costume and Pioneer Museum, not far from the Avenel Hotel whose owners are descendants of the boy's family.

Euroa, a 35km drive away, takes us from the young hero to the notorious bushranger.

It was where the Kelly gang staged a daring raid and robbed the National Bank of £200 on December 10, 1880.

Police set up their headquarters in Euroa for the Kelly Gang manhunt.

Other memorabilia and the story about the gang's plans are displayed at the Farmers Arms Hotel Museum, also in Euroa.

Benalla, a 45km drive from Euroa, was the main town closest to Kelly's home and central to Kelly's bush-ranging days.

Artist Sidney Nolan's tapestry, Glenrowan, which depicts the siege, is displayed at the Benalla Art Gallery, along with other Kelly-related works.

Kelly gang member Joe Byrne is buried at Benalla and the Kelly family appeared on various charges at the courthouse there.

Glenrowan, 20km on, is where the Kelly Gang bailed up the townsfolk in the Ann Jones Inn as part of their grand plan to create a Republic of Northeast Victoria, on June 28, 1880.

The Australian Government has recognised the national heritage significance of the Glenrowan Heritage Precinct, the site of Kelly's last stand, by including it in the National Heritage List.

The 8ha Glenrowan siege site played a defining role in both the story and the myth of Ned Kelly.

It is where the Kelly Gang, after being hunted for nearly two years, confronted the police. Three gang members were killed that day and Kelly was wounded and captured. Five months later he was hanged.

If you feel like taking a break from touring and history, have a drink at Baileys of Glenrowan Winery at Taminick Rd, where Kelly once worked.

After that go on to the historic town of Beechworth which is also connected to the Kelly legend.

All four members of the gang spent some time in its jail.

Kelly was there for two years and appeared in the courthouse on August 6, 1880, on a murder charge.

The courthouse is one of several 19th century buildings that make up the Beechworth Historic and Cultural precinct.

A Ned Kelly walking tour, which departs daily at 10.30am from the Beechworth Visitors Centre, takes you past many of Kelly's haunts.

The last historic site is at Powers Lookout in the King Valley, 85km from Beechworth, where another notorious bushranger, Harry Power, took Kelly on as an apprentice bushranger.

Power hid himself in the ranges at the head of the King Valley and his camp was located near a hollow tree. He made holes in the tree to give a complete view of the valley.

The highest spot above the campsite is now a popular viewing point known as Powers Lookout, which has magnificent views of the valley, surrounding vineyards and tobacco farms.

Then it's on to Tolmie and Stringybark Creek, 41km from the lookout, where in late 1878 the police hunt for the Kelly Gang intensified.

Sergeant Kennedy and Constables Lonigan, Scanlon and McIntyre rode out from Mansfield and on October 25 camped at Stringybark Creek, not far from the Kelly camp.

The following day the Kelly Gang ambushed the police camp.

Kennedy, Lonigan and Scanlon were killed in the gunfight while Constable McIntyre escaped on Kennedy's horse.

On November 1, the Kelly Gang and their accomplices were outlawed as a result of the massacre, which meant they could be shot on sight.

The three policemen killed at Stringybark Creek were buried at Mansfield cemetery, and there is an impressive marble monument in the main street.

The proclamation declaring the gang members to be outlaws was made from the steps of the Mansfield Courthouse on November 15, 1878. The courthouse is still used today.

Glenrowan last year celebrated the 125th anniversary of the famous siege in which Kelly lost his life.

Kelly featured in one of the world's first feature films, the Story of the Kelly Gang, which was made in 1906.

Over the years many other films have followed. Kelly has been depicted by Heath Ledger, Mick Jagger, Yahoo Serious and John Jarrett.

Fiction writers who have immortalised the bushranger include Robert Drewe, Jean Bedford and Peter Carey, who won a Booker Prize for his 2001 novel The True History of the Kelly Gang.

He has also been celebrated in song by musicians such as Jon English, John Williamson, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, Midnight Oil and Redgum.

You can't help feeling Ned Kelly would have a smile on his face today if he knew how much his legend had lived on.

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On the Trail of an Outlaw


A new touring route helps Ned Kelly fans track his life and death.

Steve Meacham reports.

It's late afternoon when we arrive, roughly the same time as the shoot-out happened all those years ago. It feels eerie as we get out of the car and walk through the trees towards the anonymous-looking creek. The silence is almost unreal, making it hard for us to believe that this little spot witnessed a pivotal moment in Australian folklore.
We seem to be the only people around for miles. But then that's what the four policemen must have felt on October 26, 1878, when they were ambushed by Ned Kelly and his men.
We've come to Stringybark Creek, the place where three of those policemen lost their lives. It was here, in this picturesque piece of forest, that the Kelly saga reached its turning point.
Whatever Ned and Dan Kelly and their two confederates, Steve Hart and Joe Byrne, had been before, after Stringybark Creek they were outlaws. Marked men. From then on they were the Kelly gang.
Of all the places of pilgrimage on the Kelly trail, Stringybark Creek is perhaps the most enigmatic. Glenrowan, scene of the famous last stand, is more dramatic. Beechworth, where Kelly was taken after being captured, has more physical things to see. Jerilderie, across the border in NSW where he wrote the letter that justified his campaign, is more philosophical. Melbourne Gaol, where he was kept in the condemned cell until he was led to the gallows on November 11, 1880, has more relics: his death mask and revolver, Dan Kelly's armour.
But Stringybark Creek is the place where the die was cast. A place of coincidence and misunderstandings.
My brother and I had decided to liven up the journey from Melbourne to Sydney. Instead of sticking to the Hume Highway, we'd taken a couple of days to meander north, calling in to see as many of the places that helped shape the Kelly story as we could. Our guide had been the excellent map of Kelly Country published by the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria, which carries detailed notes explaining what happened where.
From this month Kelly enthusiasts have another option. A number of the shire councils in the area, aided by a $82,500 grant from the Federal Government's regional tourism program, have banded together to create an official Ned Kelly Touring Route. For the first time, all the key sites have been linked with interpretive signs and storyboards that explain how each venue fits into the overall Kelly puzzle. The website http://www.nedkellytouringroute.com.au allows you to research the sites before you set off. There'll eventually be an audio guide available from the area's tourist information offices.
How we would have loved that audio guide when we travelled in January. Especially at a place such as Stringybark Creek, which cries out for explanation. Today you reach it via a well-graded dirt track shared with logging trucks, 14 kilometres off the main road between Mansfield and Beechworth. If it seems remote and lonely now, think what it must have been like in 1878.
The so-called Kelly Tree is the main thing people come to see. A crude, cast iron plaque in the form of Kelly's famous armour has been embedded into the bark, bearing the words "Kelly shot Lonigan 1878". A more recent memorial commemorating the three policemen who died was added in 2001 by the Victorian police force with the motto "Respectfully remembered and never forgotten". Sad to say, it had been defaced when we visited.
There is, of course, continuing debate about whether Kelly murdered Constable Thomas Lonigan in cold blood or in self-defence. But what is indisputable is that Kelly, fearing being squeezed between police gangs intent on his capture, ambushed the policemen who by coincidence had camped on the other side of the creek. And in the ensuing gun battle, Kelly killed both Lonigan and Michael Kennedy, with Joe Byrne probably firing the bullets that killed Michael Scanlon.
The first stop on our tour had been the tiny township of Avenel, once a ford crossing on the Old Sydney Road. It was here that the 11-year-old Kelly famously demonstrated his bravery, saving a boy called Richard Shelton from drowning in Hughes Creek. The boy's grateful parents presented Kelly with a green silk sash which Kelly wore during the Glenrowan siege (and is now on display at Benalla's Costume and Pioneer Museum).
Shortly afterwards, Kelly's father, John "Red" Kelly, died, aged 46. He's buried in the town cemetery. His death, in December 1866, meant his widow, Ellen, moved to Greta to be closer to her family. Twelve-year-old Ned became the father figure to his six siblings.
Another 50 kilometres up the road is Euroa, the site of the Kelly gang's first bank robbery. After the slaughter at Stringybark Creek, Ned realised they needed money to evade the manhunt. On December 9, 1878, after cutting the telegraph cables, the gang walked into the town's National Bank and emerged with £2260 in cash and the bank's staff as their prisoners. The story of the planning behind the raid is told in the Kelly corner of the Farmers Arms Hotel Museum.
From Euroa, most Kelly pilgrims will probably head for Benalla to see the memorabilia at the town's costume and pioneer museum. But we took the pretty diversion through the Strathbogie range to Merton and Mansfield. The three policemen who were killed at Stringybark were stationed at Mansfield, as was Constable Thomas McIntyre, the only one to escape. An impressive memorial to the slain constables, who are buried in the town cemetery, was erected in 1880. By then the gang members were outlaws, the proclamation having been read out from the steps of the Mansfield courthouse.
From Mansfield, we drove north via Stringybark Creek to Powers Lookout, named after Harry Power, Ned's bushranging mentor, who used to hide there because it gave him ample warning of any approaching troopers. Then a left turn took us through Greta to the most celebrated of all the places on the Kelly trail, Glenrowan.
Kelly's last stand, on Monday, June 28, 1880, wearing the iconic armour, has gone down in folklore. Glenrowan today is bypassed by the Hume Freeway, a fact that has reduced the number of tourists in recent years. There are three privately run attractions on the main street. Two of them are museums, Kate's Cottage and Cobb & Co. The third is the "anatromic theatre" that uses puppets and lights to re-enact the siege.
One of the best ways of exploring the site is to follow the 40-minute self-guided walk mapped out in a free leaflet from Kate's Cottage.
Ann Jones Inn, where 62 hostages had been held by the gang, was destroyed in the fire that police deliberately lit to force the remaining gang members out into the open. Two bodies, presumably those of Dan Kelly and Hart, were found in the ashes. The only thing remaining was the hotel sign, a replica of which now marks the site of the hotel just beyond the railway station where the police train pulled in and unloaded.
A few metres away, a comically lurid memorial near Siege Street marks the spot where Ned finally fell and was captured, his body riddled with bullets.
From Glenrowan, Kelly was taken to Beechworth, then a thriving gold rush town. Today Beechworth makes an ideal climax to a Kelly odyssey, before rejoining the road north to Sydney. With more than 30 buildings listed by the National Trust, Beechworth is regarded as the best-preserved gold era town in Victoria, a handsome destination in its own right, particularly with the vineyards that have grown up recently.
But it is also crammed with Kelly associations. Beechworth's celebrated Burke Museum has a permanent Kelly exhibition, featuring several items used by gang members. And the sandstone walls of the Beechworth jail had housed every member of the Kelly gang at one time or another.
His final appearance in the town after the Glenrowan shootout, a bloodied but unbowed warrior, is commemorated in the courthouse, where a Kelly figure glares down from the dock. His preliminary trial hearing was staged in Beechworth, but the trial itself was moved to Melbourne for fear a Beechworth jury might acquit him. As Kelly himself might have said, such is life.

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