Siege Story

The story of the Siege, and the Last Stand of Ned Kelly was an amazing one.  

THE GLENROWAN SIEGE  - June 1880  

The following pages cover the basic story of what took place, broken down into sections such as: 

The Plan;
The Prelude;  
The Battle; 
The Battle Part two;
The Last Stand;     
The Finale.
The Aftermath.

        After you have read what I have written, you may wish to read several full contemporary
accounts of what happened such as those that were reported in The Australasian Sketcher 
or from books such as Charles White's History of Bushranging and The Twelve Bad Men text. 

        Others wrote about the story from their point of view, such as McIntyre (the survivor of 
Stringybark Creek) Joseph Ashmead (Ned's boyhood friend) and Cookson, the reporter who 
in 1911 visited the main players of the siege.

        What really took place during those amazing few days of the siege at Glenrowan? 

        We are most fortunate in that there are countless sources of information available for 
researchers and students of history alike. 

        Some reports, especially from newspaper reporters not actually on the ground at Glenrowan 
during the siege, made many wild claims. Claims such as children being held up against windows 
as shields and of police being wounded in large numbers. 

        Even early police communications were wildly exaggerated until full details came filtering through.

       Thanks to the telegraph, the story of the siege was sent throughout the Colonies and around the world.

        Everyone wanted to hear what had taken place, entire cities stopped to hear what had happened, 
newspaper specials (special editions) sold like hotcakes. 
(The Herald said there was great excitement )

        It was to become 'the' story of the nineteenth century and here we are today still wanting to read about it.

Next: The Plan.