George
Metcalf was a prisoner in the Glenrowan Inn during the siege.
He was wounded in
the eyes during the battle and the police claimed that Ned
shot him by accident,
whereas George maintained he was hit by the police.
Why would George make up
such a story if Ned had actually shot him? It seems
possible that he was able to
receive greater compensation and medical attention
if shot by police. At least
that is the impression I get from police documents.
They (the police) believed
Ned accidentally shot George whilst playing around
with an unfamiliar rifle.
Either way the poor man was to be wounded in the eyes
and not live more than a
few months after the siege.
This house (above) was in Baynton St Kynton.(sorry about the
quality)
Robert Metcalf (George's father) is seen standing out front.
(Consent to publish house on right by David White (no relation to me) a
descendent of
George Metcalf.
196 Collins St E
1, July 1880
Chief Commissioner Police
Sir,
A patient came to Melbourne
recently injured in the eye during
the attack by Police of the
“Kelly Gang” I admitted him
tentatively into the eye & ear
Hospital till I communicated
with the head of the department,
whether he is a fit case
For the ????, the rules
being very stringent as
to our admitting any other,
will the authorities pay up
I admitted him privately as he
states he is unable to so
himself – otherwise he can
remain where he is ?
Your
obedt servt
Andrew ???????
December 9, 1880
Will the Hon: The Chief Secretary have the goodness to approve the ----- in
reimbursement of
expenses incurred on behalf of one Geo Metcalfe - now dec[eased].
At the termination of the proceedings at Glenrowan, Metcalf, (who was one of the
persons detained
in Mrs. Jones's house) presented himself to the police and informed them that an
injury to his eyes,
which was apparent, was caused by a gunshot fired in Mrs. Jones's house by the
police, and he asked
for medical aid. Believing the man's story Superintendent Sadleir recommended
him to Capt. Standish
for assistance, and, on the representations of the latter, Metcalfe was admitted
as an outpatient of
the Eye and Ear Hospital. Capt. Standish at the same time arranged with Mr.
Chas. Wilson, landlord
of the "Rose of Melbourne" hotel, Young St, Fitzroy, to board and lodge Metcalfe
until the termination
of his treatment at the eye hospital.
On the 11th October Metcalfe was taken seriously ill and was at once removed to
the Melbourne
Hospital where he died on the 15th ----.
From information given to the police there seems strong grounds to doubt
Metcalfe's story, and good
reason to believe that his injury was the result of the accidental discharge of
a gun when in the hands
of Edward Kelly prior to the arrival of the police at Glenrowan. As ---- Mr.
Wilson was engaged by
Capt. Standish to maintain Metcalfe, and as Metcalfe is now dead, I beg to
recommend that
Mr. Wilson's charges be paid. I may add that when, in October, I learned
Metcalfe was dangerously ill
in Mr. Wilson's house I requested the latter to have him removed to the
Melbourne Hospital with as little
expense as possible.
C.H. Nicholson
(Thanks Sharon)
From genealogical Metcalf family website:
'
The tale of George William
METCALF born at
Fingal, Tasmania on 7 July 1846.
George was the fourth child of the convict - Robert
METCALF and his wife, Sarah ELLIS. From about the age of 5
years he lived with his family in the town of Kyneton. As he reached adulthood,
he became well known in the district of Kyneton where he always bore an
excellent character as a steady,
hardworking man.
George did not marry and just before his 34th birthday - on Sunday 28 June 1880
- he was shot during
the Ned Kelly siege at Glenrowen (sic).
He was employed with five others in
quarrying stone near Glenrowen (sic) and on the morning of the celebrated
Sunday
was wakened by the Ned Kelly gang, and along with his mates was compelled to
tear up the line.
Afterwards he was locked up with the others in the Glenrowen (sic) Hotel and
when the fight commenced was
lying on the floor near the chimney.
He was severely wounded in the eyes by the first volley that was fired by the
police. After the fight he was sent
down to the Eye and Ear Institution at
Melbourne.
He was discharged from the hospital
in early October 1880, but stayed in Fitzroy at "the Wilson's" for
further
treatment and until he was fit enough to travel back to Kyneton.
He died on the 15 October 1880 from
the injuries received four months previously at Glenrowen (sic).
In a letter dated 12 September, to
his sister Sarah he says:
Dear Sarah,
You must excuse me for not writing
before. My eyes were too weak and I didn't like to bother Mr Wilson,
and I
didn't know anyone else, but it's better late than never.
My eyes are getting on very well,
but I don't know when I can leave Melbourne, for they are very weak yet.
I pass my time very well when the
sun is not too strong I go down Bourke Street every evening.
Last week I got a pass from Mr
Tichanar a watchmaker, to go in to the exhibition but I could not see much,
for
they were only unpacking then.
I like Wilson's, they are very nice
people, I don't send my washing out.
I havn't (sic) seen Mr Thornton
since I left the hospital. I expect (he) is in work.
I expect you will put this letter in
a glass case and keep it. I don't put the words so close for it makes my eyes
water.
It will take two trains to bring
this letter.
"There is a man at Wilson's, a
tall short complexioned gentleman. He is 5'6" in height and 27 years of
age,
pink hair, green eyes, mauve eyebrows, swallow tail trousers and double
barrelled frock coat with tripe collar.
He is deaf and dumb of one eye, and
limps a little with the other"
That's all I have to say. I
send my kind love to all, I will tell you.
Remember me to father and mother and them all.
Yours truly,
George Metcalf.
George was in Melbourne for
treatment for his eyes when he wrote this letter.
Geo Metcalfe, son
of a shoemaker of Baynton Street, was
quarrying stone near Glenrowan and
compelled by the Kelly gang to tear up
the railway line. He was locked up
afterwards in the Glenrowan Hotel
and was severely wounded in the eyes
by the first volley fired by the police.
Later he was sent to the Eye and Ear
Hospital and then to the Melbourne
Hospital, where he died.
George died 15 Oct
1880.
METCALF, GEORGE (1826-1880)
He was a stonebreaker at Glenrowan and was taken hostage by the Kelly
Gang in the Glenrowan Inn. When the police opened fire on the Glenrowan
Inn, Metcalf was hit by a bullet and badly injured in one eye. He died
of his injuries on 15 October 1880 at the Melbourne Hospital, age 54.
Although the police publically denied that Metcalf was killed by a
police bullet, the police department paid Metcalf's board and lodging,
and also all medical bills he incurred. He appears to have come to
Victoria in October 1852 on the Himalaya.
Source: Ned Kelly Encyclopaedia, Corfield.
Note: A descendent of George has informed me that he did not arrive on
the Himalaya, in fact he was born in Fingal, Tasmania on 7 July 1846. (Thanks
Leone)
There’s Always a ‘Black Sheep’ Amongst Your Ancestors.
East Yorkshire's link with
an infamous Australian
gang shoot-out
By Peter Hopper
George Metcalf innocently got himself mixed up in
the infamous outlaw Ned Kelly Gang siege - an event
much like the Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow
shoot-out in America- but this one in faraway
Australia a long time ago, in 1880.
What's that got to do with East Yorkshire, you
may well ask? Well, George's father, Robert snr. was
born in Beverley, and his son, also Robert, was the
bad-boy brother of my great, great grandmother, Ann
Hopper (nee Metcalf) , who married Spurn Point
lifeboat coxswain Fewson Hopper in the mid-19th
century.
St.
Mary's Church in Beverley A further
generation back to George's grandparents, Robert and
Mary Metcalf produced a total of nine children. All
were born in the Beverley parish of St Mary's, and
christened in the town's Lairgate Independent
Church.
Robert jnr. was born in 1815 and was soon in
serious trouble with the law as a young man. He was
transported to Van Diemen's Land (the original name
given by Europeans to Tasmania, now part of
Australia) on board the good ship Moffatt,
arriving on 9th May 1834, having been sentenced to
seven years imprisonment at York in March the
previous year.
His stated offence was manslaughter. "I
quarrelled with my master's son, Charles Voss, while
we were at work," he said. "I had a knife in my hand
and struck him with it in the left side. He lived 24
hours after it."
Robert's jail record was reasonably good, having
only one other conviction, that of insolence and
being absent frequently, for which he was given 14
days solitary confinement. However, he was granted a
"free certificate" in May 1850.
It was in 1838 that Robert applied for permission
to marry Sarah Ellis. Sarah was then aged 19, having
arrived in Van Diemen's Land as a children's maid
two years earlier. On arrival, she was employed by
Major Gray, of St Pauls, the name then given to the
Fingal area.
Sarah and Robert were wed at Cambelltown in 1839,
and their marriage was blessed with six children,
the fourth being George, who was born in Fingal on
7th July 1846.
From about the age of five, George was living
with his family in the town of Kyneton. As he
reached adulthood, he became well known in the
district and had the reputation of being of good
character and a steady, hardworking man.
George did not marry, and just before his 34th
birthday, Sunday, 28th June 1880, he found himself
in the wrong place at the wrong time while employed
with five other men in quarrying stone near
Glenrowen. It was the morning that the notorious Ned
Kelly gang came to town - with the police not far
behind, guns out ready to corner them.
George and his mates were locked up by the gang
in the Glenrowen Hotel and when the shoot-out with
the police commenced, George was lying on the floor
near the chimney. He was severely wounded in both
eyes by the first volley thought to have been fired
by the police, though there is some dispute about
that and other reports suggest that he could have
been shot by the feared Ned Kelly himself.
Ned
Kelly's entry on Wikipedia The Kelly Gang,
its leader the son of an Irish convict also sent to
Van Diemen's Land, had done some dastardly deeds:
robbing banks and giving money to some of the lower
class settlers in Victoria who helped to shelter
them, before they killed three policemen in an
earlier shoot-out.
After the gun fight at Glenrowen, George Metcalf
he was sent to the Eye and Ear Institution in
Melbourne, and was later discharged from the
hospital in early October 1880, but stayed at "the
Wilson's," intending to stay there until he was fit
enough to travel back to Kyneton.
George was one of a number of hostages taken by
the gang, but died from his injuries on 15th October
1880, four months after the shoot-out.
What of the infamous gang? Ned Kelly was
seriously wounded but survived to be hanged, while
the other three gangsters were all killed by the
police marksmen.
The article above was written by a relatively new visitor to this site (and
descendent of George), Peter Hopper.
Thank you also to yet another descendent Leone Fabre for her information
about George.
The tale of George William
METCALF born at
Fingal, Tasmania on 7 July 1846.
St.
Mary's Church in Beverley A further
generation back to George's grandparents, Robert and
Mary Metcalf produced a total of nine children. All
were born in the Beverley parish of St Mary's, and
christened in the town's Lairgate Independent
Church.
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