THE P RTAL
March 2014
AU Page 2
Ned Kelly:
Love Him Or Hate Him
The second in a short series by Adrian Lanagan
In my
last article on Ned Kelly I mentioned that Ned’s schooling was
mastered by his father. A little bit of journalistic licence has crept in there as,
being the eldest of three brothers and five sisters, Ned would have had some
basic schooling in the village of Beveridge.
This
education
could have been a
church school and
no doubt young
Edward
learnt
about his faith
and made his first
Communion.
Ned Kelly at the age of 15
There was the infamous
shoot-out at Stringy Bark
Creek where Ned shot
It is not too hard
three policemen, Lonigan,
to believe the family
Scanlan and later Kennedy.
praying the Rosary,
There
were
hold-ups,
with or without Fr
O’Hea present, and Ned Kelly, home with his parents and family in the village of Beveridge robberies as well. Last of all,
the infamous Glenrowan
the Kelly family
no doubt attended Sunday Mass when it was held in siege. His mother was arrested in 1878 and sentenced
to three years imprisonment by Judge Redmond Barry,
Beveridge.
who two years later had also sentenced Ned Kelly to
Eventually the family farm began to fail so John death by hanging.
and Ellen and the children moved north in 1864 to
[Note: Greta is the small town 30km from Glenrowan
the small town of Avenel. Ned, as an eleven year old
where Ned Kelly’s remains were finally buried in
boy, saved a seven year old lad, Richard Shelton, from
2013 in the family grave at Greta, after removal from
drowning in the local creek. Richard’s parents gave
the grave within the Melbourne Jail of Pentridge.
Ned a green silk sash with a gold bullion fringe.
A memorial Mass was held at St Patrick’s Church,
Wangaratta before the burial took place.]
It was symbolic of his Irish heritage. John “Red”
Kelly was released from Kilmore Gaol to die
shortly afterwards on 27 December 1866 of
dropsy (oedema), aged forty six. Ned, aged 12
at the time, signed the death certificate. Ned was
now the man of the family and still a school-boy.
Ned eventually left school at fourteen to help his
mother support all the siblings.
the man of the family
The family moved from one property to
another; Ellen moved from Avenel to Greta in
1867, then to Eleven Mile Creek in 1869, closer
to her relatives. There would be some 18 charges
against Ned’s immediate family, but only half
could be proved, before he was classified an
outlaw.