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The Ned Kelly Gang´s Stories!

 

Ned Kelly

 
 
 
The bushranger Ned Kelly is one of Australia's greatest folk heroes.
He has been memorialised by painters, writers, musicians, and film makers alike. More books, songs and websites have been written about the Ned Kelly and the Kelly Gang than any other group of Australian historical figures.

When people are asked what they think of Ned Kelly, the answers are usually fairly extreme. They either see him as a hero who fought for his family and friends, or a bushranger who robbed banks, stole livestock and murdered policemen.
A brief history of Ned Kelly and the Kelly Gang
Edward 'Ned' Kelly was the first-born son of an Irish Catholic couple. His father was an ex-convict and mother a migrant. He was born in June 1855 and was executed in 1880 at 25 years of age.

In his teens he was a 'bush-worker' - ring-barking, breaking in horses, mustering cattle, and fencing. From this he graduated to cattle duffing and horse stealing.

During Ned's short life he was arrested for assault, horse stealing, bank robbery, and finally a reward for £100 was put out for Ned and Dan Kelly for attempted murder of a policeman. Later the reward was increased to £1000 for each of the Kelly Gang for the murder of three policemen at Stringybark Creek.

After more bank robberies, the Kelly Gang's had their 'last stand' in the small town of Glenrowan, Victoria, where they took 60 hostages in a hotel. In the battle with police three gang members - Dan Kelly, Joe Byrne and Steve Hart - were killed and a wounded Ned was arrested and charged with the murder of a policeman. Ned Kelly was tried and convicted of the murder of Constable Lonigan at Stringybark Creek and hanged at the Melbourne Gaol.

An extensive history of Ned Kelly and the Kelly Gang can be seen at Ned Kelly: Australian Ironoutlaw. The Old Melbourne Gaol held a unique Kelly Exhibition in early 2002, and the Kelly gang featured in the National Museum of Australia's 2003/04 Outlawed! exhibition.

Ned Kelly and the Kelly Gang - Films

1906 feature film The Story of the Kelly Gang
The Australian film industry produced what was probably the world's first full length feature film in 1906. The film was the Tait brothers production The Story of the Kelly Gang. It was a success in both Australian and British theatres, and it was also the beginning of a genre of bushranger stories.

Only a few minutes of footage from The Story of the Kelly Gang have survived. It can be seen when visiting the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.

While the Australian public took a liking to bushranger stories, the New South Wales police department did not. The production of films about bushrangers was banned in 1912. The Kelly story, however, outlasted the ban and has been refilmed a number of times since.

Other well known films about Ned Kelly include: Ned Kelly (1970) starring English rock singer Mick Jagger as Ned; the Trial of Ned Kelly (1977) starring John Waters and Gerard Kennedy; the 1980 mini-series The Last Outlaw starring John Jarratt, Steven Bisley and Sigrid Thornton; and most recently the 2003 Gregor Jordan directed Ned Kelly which starred Heath Ledger.

Ned Kelly and the Kelly Gang - Books
Recently, the Australian author Peter Carey won the 2001 Booker Prize for his fictional novel True History of the Kelly Gang. Carey's inspiration, in part, came from the Sidney Nolan series of Kelly paintings, some of which can be seen at The Nolan Gallery's Foundation Collection. The novel's first person narrative style was crafted from Ned's own 'Jerilderie Letter' - an account of the dramatic events leading to his being outlawed in the 1870s.

Carey's book is not the first to be written about Ned and the Kelly Gang. There are many other books including Ned Kelly: A Short Life (1995), Ned Kelly: The Authentic Illustrated History (1984 and reprinted in 2001), I am Ned Kelly (1980) and the Inner History of the Kelly Gang (1929), a very brave move on behalf of the author, J. J. Kennealy, considering that some of the people being discussed were still alive.

Ned Kelly and the Kelly Gang - Art

Image courtesy of Ned Kelly: Australian Ironoutlaw
Sidney Nolan's Ned Kelly series are probably the most well known of the art works about Ned Kelly. You can see some of the art works at the Nolan Gallery's Foundation Collection. Many other artists, including Norman Lindsay, have also produced a variety of art works of t his Australian bushranger.


Search for more information about:

Ned Kelly
Bushrangers

Useful links

Ned Kelly: Australian Ironoutlaw
Ned Kelly's World
Outlawed!
Ned Kelly
Treasures of the State Library of Victoria - The Jerilderie Letter
Treasures of the State Library of Victoria - Kelly Gang Armour Exhibition
Wanted - Ned Kelly
The Nolan Gallery
Bayside Studio - Ned Kelly Artwork
Ned Online: Documents on the Kelly Outbreak at Public Record Office Victoria

Ned Kelly - film links

Australian films article - including Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly: Australian Ironoutlaw - Kelly on Film
Interview with Ned Kelly Director, Gregor Jordan
Kelly and Stringybark Creek - Film Clips

Ned Kelly - tourism links

Ned Kelly: Australian Ironoutlaw - Tourism links
Welcome to Victoria - Visit Victoria
Avenel Maze



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