 |
||||
  |
||||
| “We were told that Byrne had been firing, and was in great spirits, boasting of what the gang was going to do. The work was hot, and he went to the counter for a drink. Finding that the weight of the armour prevented him throwing back his head to swallow the liquor he lifted the apron-shaped plate with one hand while with the other he lifted the glass to his mouth. In this attitude a chance bullet struck him in the groin, and spinning around once he fell dead” -- |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
As Mc
Intrye scrambled
through the bush on Kennedy's horse, he was hit on the head by
a branch, and fell off. He crawled into a Wombat hole for the
night, also he removed his boots in fear of tracks. As he
lay in the wombat hole, he wrote in his diary, and at dawn he began
his slow walk back to Mansfield, and finally got there at around
6pm that night, one day after the gun-fight at Stringybark. He blurted
out his story. The Kelly gang were now men on the run. The
gang spurred their horses back towards Greta, and returned home,
after Margaret and possibly Kate Kelly, tended to Dan's shot shoulder,
they headed off, towards the mighty Murray River. With
the help of Aaron Sherritt, the gang pushed to cross the Murray
River, boarding the colonies New South Wales and Victoria, , which
was already in full flood, they were without success, and spurred
back towards Greta. After eight days on the run, the gang were back at Ned and Dan's small cottage in Greta, with Mrs Kelly gone, it must have been a big change. And that visit back home, must have had some affect on Joe and the gang, and they decided to stick to the well-known ranges, where they could hide from the officers of justice. After
eight days on the run, the gang were back at Ned and Dan's small
cottage in Greta, with Mrs Kelly gone, it must have been a big change.
And that visit back home, must have had some affect on Joe and the
gang, and they decided to stick to the well-known ranges, where
they could hide from the officers of justice. Hence,
on the 12th of November, the gang, were to surrender themselves,
to the Mansfield Courthouse, after this date if the gang did not
arrive at the Mansfield Courthouse, they would be declared outlaws. The
12th of November came, and went, without sign of the Kelly gang
in Mansfield. Three days later, on the 15th of November 1878, the
gang were declared outlaws, and possibly the gang didn't even know
that they were to be declared outlaws, perhaps it came in the delivery
of Tom Lloyd as he bought the gang supplies in the ranges that afternoon. During
mid November Maggie Kelly had become quite an active Kelly sympathizer,
she baked bread " In such quantities it could not have been
for the ordinary family " Every night she would ride out to
the gang's hiding place, on her horse " White-Foot "
Money,
was a huge factor, that the gang were almost out of, after some
decisions, the gang finally decided on the Euroa bank to be the
site of the first Kelly gang robbery. On Sunday the 8th of December,
Joe rode into Euroa and met up with long-time Kelly sympathizer,
Ben Gould, Ben had got his cart bogged near the Eleven Mile creek,
where the Kelly's lived. Ned explains the events of first meeting
Ben and the problems he brought with him, in Joe and Ned's
Jerilderie Letter: "
In or about the spring of 1870 the ground was very soft a hawker
named Mr Gould got his waggon bogged between Greta and my mother's
house on the eleven mile creek, the ground was that rotten it would
bog a duck in places so Mr. Gould had abandon his waggon for fear
of loosing his horses in the spewy ground. he was stopping at my
Mother's awaiting finer or dryer weather Mr. McCormack and his wife.
hawkers also were camped in Greta the mosquitoes were very bad which
they generally are in a wet spring and to help them Mr. Johns had
a horse called Ruita Cruta although a gelding was as clever as old
Wombat or any other Stallion at running horses away and taking them
on his beat which was from Greta swamp to the seven mile creek consequently
he enticed McCormack's horse away from Greta. Mr. Gould was up early feeding his horses heard a bell and seen McCormack horses for he knew the horse well he sent his boy to take him back to Greta. When McCormack's got the horse they came straight out to Goold and accused him of working the horse; this was false, and Goold was amazed at the idea I could not help laughing to hear Mrs. McCormack accusing him of using the horse after him being so kind as to send his boy to take him from the Ruta Cruta and take him back to them. I pleaded Goulds innocence and Mrs McCormack turned on me and accused me of bringing the horse from Greta to Goolds waggon to pull him out of the bog I did not say much to the woman as my Mother was present but that same day me and my uncle was cutting calves Gould wrapped up a note and a pair of the calves testicles and gave them to me to give them to Mrs McCormack. I did not see her and I gave the parcel to a boy to give to her when she would come instead of giving it to her he gave it to her husband consequently McCormack said he would summons me I told him neither me or Gould used their horse " So, as Joe and Ben spoke of the events of the raid and Ben's part in it, they lunched at De Boos's hotel right near the bank that was to be robbed. Ben explained to Joe the events of the death of little Bill Gouge, was riding his horse, along Shean's creek road, before his hair was caught on a branch, snapping his neck, his funeral was to be held on Tuesday the 10th of December, a perfect time for the raid. On Monday 9th of December, Joe and the gang rode into Faithful's creek station, just north of Euroa, this well built home, would be the depot to hold their prisoners who were not attending the funeral of Bill Gouge, on their arrival, Ned alerted Mrs Fitzgerald, of the arrival, soon everyone on the station was bailed up. Joe's grey mare Music, had recently foaled, but she as able to carry Joe, 65 miles, to Euroa. Soon Mr Gloster, a Hawker from Seymour arrived, as Ned attempted to bail him up, Gloster withdrew a revolver, there was shouting until Gloster finally surrendered, he put on a good show, as he was a Kelly sympathizer. Gloster had the measurements of " Ned and his colleagues " and " Fitted them quite handsomely " into the squatter style outfits. Joe selected a grey tweed Paget coat, brown tweed trousers and vest, a Rob Roy shirt, black tie, elastic sided boots and a felt hat. As the gang walked over to the 20ft by 15ft shed, where the prisoners, would be kept, the gang answered questions, and smoked the night away. The Morning of Tuesday 10th shined promising. As an assortment of prisoners were bailed up. After lunch, Joe, Ned and Steve cut down the telegraph lines. As the gang donned their new clothes from Gloster, the old, " Murder " clothes were piled into a heap and burnt. About this time, Joe had put together, a red text, letter, directed to MLA Cameron, a politician, who had taken interest, in the gang's cries for justice. The letter, which Joe wrote in red ink, was nicknamed, the Euroa or Cameron Letter, and it was sent from Glenrowan, by Mrs. Fitzgerald. At around 4: 30pm the gang without Joe, as Joe watched the prisoners, he strolled in and around the shed watching from each side. A train passed through town, a man jumped down from the train, examined the broken lines, Joe watched him nervously, and turning to place his shotgun down, as he looked out towards the man Joe realized he walking towards the home. Joe quickly grabbed his shot gun and nervously bailed the man up. As Joe searched the 6 foot man for weapons, he unlocked the shed and added him to the prisoners. The man's name was Watt, a line repairer, and he recalled that Joe was " so nervous he could scarcely fix the key in the lock " As Joe seen the carts trotting towards the home, he must have sighed in relief. Joe would now have learned that the raid was successful, and the gang had netted 2260 pounds into a sugar bag. At 7: 30 the gang ate dinner, and were prepared to leave at 8:00 pm, before a some trick riding was preformed by the gang, and they successfully rode out of Euroa, 2260 pounds richer. At 8: 30pm the gang rode out " at full gallop.....in a perfect cloud of dust " and headed towards the ranges, the gang had staged arguably the most successfully raid in Australian history. As the
gang left Euroa, the made a run into the Strathbogie ranges not
to far away. The 37 prisoners watched in pure admiration of the
bravado of the four young men. As the gang returned to their homes
in the ranges, being ' possible ' sightings of the gang, some were
positive, some not. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
       
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
One of the biggest outrages and injustices made in the history of policing in Victoria, was the events of the locking up of the sympathizers of the Kelly gang. The events occurred between 3rd January to 22nd April 1879. As Ian Jones put it during his speech at the Centenary dinner at Glenrowan June 2002: " Farmers were being denied the right to stake out a life, in the country they knew, among the people they knew, and this swung the Kelly Outbreak into rebellion " The following men, were arrested and jailed under section 5 of the felons apprehension act 1878
During in which the above ' offenders ' were behind bars, and all released by 22nd April 1879. Once again, money was something they were seriously running out of, another bank, was veering to the option.
Already, Ned and Joe had gone into depth plans to decide where the next hold up would occur. Jerilderie was in target - Aaron, in his obvious ' hoodwinking ' towards the police, came into it's most monumental approach. Aaron, told Superintendent Hare, that Joe and Dan had come to see him at his selection, and told him about the raid ahead. Undoubtedly Aaron was hoodwinking the police force, by telling them the gang was heading to Goulburn bank, but really, the attack was on Jerilderie. With the police charging towards the opposite side of the Murray, Joe and the boys, had already coolly crossed the Murray, at Burramine, and had spurred there way towards Jerilderie. On the night of Sunday the 9th of February, 1879, Constable George Devine, was awoken to the sound of a man yelling As the policemen hurried towards the front door where they were confronted by a man jumping hurriedly around on his horse. The man said " There's a row going on......they 'r fighting.......alot of drunken fellows.......where's Richards? " " Right here " said Richards, " What's up? " Ned asked the policemen if they were the only two at the station, they answered yes. Suddenly, the horseman, withdrew a revolver, and he became very calm, and spoke slowly. " Move, and I will shoot you. I'm Kelly. Put up your hands " Joe appeared to the policemen's left, Dan and Steve to their right. The gang slept the night, in the police station, taking turns to watch out. As for Senior Constable Devine, and constable Richards, they spent the night in the old log lock up, next to the station. Also, in the cell was a drunk, whom the police had picked earlier that day. Next morning it was very hot, so the gang made an early rise. Ned and Dan donned police uniforms. Mrs Devine, remembered she had to attend Mass, it would seem something was the matter, if Mrs Devine didn't do her usual arranging of the flowers, and sweeping the place out. Dan, went with Mrs Devine, to speed things up, and also to keep watch. The rest of the day passed with ease, the gang, fed, groomed and tendered to their horses, reloaded weapons and cleaned them. Next day Joe rode into town, and observed his surrounding's, accompanied by, Dan and Constable Richards. Written on cardboard, was a layout of the town, on the back of the cardboard drawing, Joe wrote a little joke: Q.
Why are the Kellys the greatest matchmakers in the country? Sometime prior to the hold up, a 56 page letter, written by Joe, conducted by Ned, was nicknamed the Jerilderie Letter. Ned sat up most of the night on his ' watch out ' shift, and he read her Joe, and his creation: The Jerilderie Letter. But, Mrs Devine couldn't remember ".....a thing about it...." 2 days later. The letter, which was a perfection, to the previous, 'Euroa' or "Cameron' Letters, it contained 8,300 words, and was 56 pages long. Several paragraphs included: " What would England do if America declared war and hoisted a green flag as its all Irishmen that has got command of her armies forts and batteries even her very life guards and beef tasters are Irish would they not slew around and fight her with their own arms for the sake of the colour they dare not wear for years. and to reinstate it and rise old Erins isle once more, from the pressure and tyrannism of the English yoke, which has kept it in poverty and starvation, and caused them to wear the enemys coats. What else can England expect. " " I would like to know who put that article that reminds me of a poodle dog half clipped in the lion fashion, called Brooke E. Smith Superin-tendent of Police he knows as much about commanding Police as Cap-tain Standish does about mustering mosquitoes and boiling them down for their fat on the back blocks of the Lachlan for he has a head like a turnip a stiff neck as big as his shoulders narrow hipped and pointed towards the feet like a vine stake " " I give fair warning to all those who has reason to fear me to sell out and give £10 out of every hundred towards the widow and orphan fund and do not attempt to reside in Victoria but as short a time as possible after reading this notice, neglect this and abide by the consequences, which shall be worse than the rust in the wheat in Victoria or the druth of a dry season to the grasshoppers in New South Wales I do not wish to give the order full force without giving timely warning. but I am a widows son outlawed and my orders must be obeyed. EDWARD KELLY. " After, Joe had culled out the town, noting that the bank, was under the same roof as the hotel, the hotel was the perfect place to hold captives. The morning of Monday 10th of February dawned bright and clear. Joe and Dan, in police uniforms, rode down to the blacksmith, and had their horses re-shod, before leaving Joe said, " Charge it to the government account! " Joe donned his bush clothes once again, they walked into town, with Constable Richards, Dan and Ned in police uniform, Steve was plain clothed. A few minutes before 10 am, the gang, and Richards, walked into the Royal Mail Hotel, next door to the bank, Richards introduced them as policemen, before revealing their true identities. Charlie Cox, owner of the hotel, was the first of the gang's prisoners. Dan and Steve bailed up, some locals around the back, sides, and parlour of the hotel, as Joe and Ned, walked next door; the bank. Joe walked into the back door, of the bank, and came out behind the bank's accountant, Edwin Living, Mr Living said to Joe, whom posed as a lost drunk, " you, you can't come through here " Joe's pose disappeared, and quickly he said " I am Kelly " At that time, Mackie, the Bank's junior clerk, walked in from the front door, he was looking out for Tarleton, the manager, who was out riding. Mackie entered, saying " No sign of him boss " he froze; Joe yelled " In here " meaning over the counter, Mackie was still frozen, Joe stamped his foot on the floor and yelled " snap! " Joe raided the Teller's safe, gaining 691 pounds, but the second compartment needed a second key, it was Tarleton's key; the manager. Mackie leapt the counter, and joined Joe and Living. Joe said " Now, let's get the safe open, Living replied, " Sorry sir, I can't, we need the managers key " at that point Ned walked in the front door, in police uniform, and said, " Well where's the manager? " Eventually, Tarleton was found, he had came in through the back door was running a nice warm bath, after a days long hard ride. Living walked in and said, " I'm sorry sir, but we are stuck-up " Tarleton said " Oh, don't talk rubbish man! " Steve, who had just entered the bank, said " There's no rubbish about it " Steve, Ned and Tarleton, had just returned to the main sectio of the bank, Joe had bailed up, Elliot the school teacher. Tarleton, opened the safe, while Joe and Elliot, held the sugar bag sack open, the gain was another 1450 pounds. Jerilderie's newspaper editor, Mr Gill, wanted a piece of the story, of why there where 'new' Constable's in town. he went to the police station and was confronted by Mrs Devine, who only said ' Run for your life is in danger ' he ran all the way in to town and gathered up Harkin and Rankin, both store-owners, and he told them of what had just happened. They thought to warn Living, the bank accountant of what he had just heard, as they walked in Ned who was kneeling down at the fire place, called " Just a minute....." the voice made the trio bolt and run, Harkin and Gill escaped, but poor old 22 stone Rankin fell in the doorway, and Rankin became Ned's prisoner. Harkin was re-captured later. Angry Ned dragged poor Rankin to the hotel next door, he was extremely angry at the recently taken prisoner. He was enraged, and became cursing the prisoner of escape, when he found out the man who had escaped was the newspaper editor, he was in killing-mode. Ned wanted the Jerilderie Letter, to be published in the chronicle, so Ned's story could be told. Mr Living persuaded Ned that the he would pass the letter on to Gill to be printed, Ned handed it over. Living promised it to be printed; the promise was not kept. Joe had missed the action, he had left to the telegraph office to destroy the Morse Key, and read, previously sent telegraph's to make sure nearby towns had not been warned. Soon it was drinks all round, as everyone socialised, drank and cheered, the gang were on the verge of leaving. A speech by Ned, very similar to the speech before leaving Euroa, he told everyone in that pub, the hardship, of persecution, he and his family had received. Before they left, Richards, who had been with the gang all day, must have felt ashamed, so Ned, decided, to give Richards, his ' dignity ' back. A fast conversation, between Ned and Richards, was recorded by Elliot the school teacher. Ned knew that he was one of the New South Wales police, who fired across the river at four Victoria police, believing them to be the gang. " Now I
am going to shoot Constable Richards before I leave " The country went into shock, of the event of what just happened.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
