A 'troublemaker' in a lawless outpost
Kelly was born in December 1854, near the town of Beveridge in Victoria. When he was 12, his Irish father John 'Red' Kelly, an ex-convict, died of dropsy, forcing Kelly to leave school and become the family breadwinner. Soon after, his mother Ellen moved the family to a slab hut in the tiny Victorian community of Greta to be near her own family, the Quinns, who were squatters. Greta was something of a lawless outpost, and the young Kelly soon grew into an accomplished troublemaker.
An outlaw …show more content…
After roaming the countryside and living off their wits, the Kelly Gang shot dead three policemen who had been sent to capture them, sparking the biggest manhunt in Australia's history.
The Kelly Gang's last stand
More shootouts and skirmishes with police followed. Finally, their luck ran out in the town of Glenrowan in north-east Victoria. After holding up the railway station, the Kelly Gang herded the town's citizens into the local inn, where the gang prepared for its last stand. In a back room, the clanking sounds of Kelly donning his homemade iron armour could be heard. The armour weighed 90 pounds.
Kelly captured: 'Such is life'
Police surrounded the inn and at 3am they opened fire. When the smoke had cleared, Dan Kelly, Joe Byrne and Steve Hart lay dead. Incredibly, Kelly escaped to the bush, only to reappear at sunrise out of the early morning mist to rescue his brother. This time, the police aimed low, where Kelly was vulnerable, taking out his legs in a volley of bullets. At last, Ned Kelly had been