Ned Kelly

Ned Kelly was an Irish - Australian bushranger considered by some others only a cold blooded killer while by others a folk hero and symbol of Irish – Australian opposition against authority by the British ruling class for a lack of attention of colonial authorities. Ned was born at Beveridge Vitoria around July 1854 and July 1855 and died on November 11, 1880 by the aged of 25.

Red Kelly and Ellen Quinn the parents of Ned Kelly left Van Diemen’s Land for Port Phillip because the Quinn’s objected to their marriage. Red settled in the Victorian Ranges to the north of Melbourne where like so many others, he struggled to make a living from the poor land left at the border of the squatter’s rich result. Red supplemented his income by engaging in the old art of horse stealing. He was arrested and lock up in jail for horse stealing and died before finishing his sentence. Ellen moved the family to a slab-hut on Eleven Mile Creek in the north-east, near where the rest of her family. Ned attended school at Avenel until his father died on December 27 1866. It was here that Ned was cast in the role of bread-winner, taking jobs as a timber cutter and rural worker. Ned earned praise for his diligence and ability for hard work. At the age of 14, Ned was arrested for stealing 10 shillings from a Chinese man and reportedly to have announced that his going to be a bushrangers. Ned was sent as a kind of apprentice bush worker to Harry Power. A year later, Kelly was charged with robbery under arms on one occasion when he was holding Power’s horse. He was freed for lack of evidence, although a few months later has was back in the lock up for assault. During this time Ned also gained some fame as the champion boxer in the Beechworth district. Ned’s real troubles with the police began when his mother arrested for the shooting of Constable Fitzpatrick. While Ned Kelly did not try to break into Beechworth jail to rescue his mother as planned he offered a final threat to the government...