Ned Kelly

EDWARD "NED" KELLY

Ned Kelly

Ned Kelly was born around June 1855, the first son, of John and Ellen Kelly, poor selectors (farmers) near Beveridge in what is now Victoria, Australia. The exact place and date of birth is not known as the birth was not registered -a not uncommon occurrence in those frontier days. The Kelly's already had a daughter, Ann, and during the following years five more children were born, Margaret, James, Daniel, Catherine (Kate) and Grace. In 1864 the Kellys moved to Avenel, further inland, where they continued with their dairy farming. They were remembered in the locality as "poor strugglers". Between 1864 and 1866 an incident occurred which enhances the Ned Kelly legend. On their way to school the Kelly children, along with the rest, crossed a river , 'Hughes Creek', and one day a young boy called Richard Shelton slipped and fell into a deep waterhole. He was on the point of drowning when Ned Kelly, aged ten or so, risking his own life, dived in and saved the young boy. The boy's parents, proprietors of the Royal Mail Hotel presented Ned with a valuable 'green silk sash, with a heavy bullion fringe'. The sash was with Ned when he was captured after his last stand in Glenrowan.

Ellen Kelly

John Kelly died on 27th December 1866, and Ellen was left to support seven children, and at 11 years of age Ned had become the man of the family. In 1867 Ellen decided to move from Avenel to Greta to be near her own family, the Quinns, who were squatters (large landowners) in that area. In 1869 she moved again to Eleven Mile Creek, near Greta, and Ned left school to help her as best he could. They eked out a living selling 'sly grog' (illegal alcohol) and providing accommodation for passing carriers, hawkers, seasonal workers and travellers of all sorts. Home was now an unofficial public house and the family was without the steadying influence of a father. This period is seen as the turning point in the lives of the young Kelly boys. The Quinn uncles, Ellen's brothers, began to play a major part in their lives and this influence was largely detrimental. They were known as a 'wild lot', expert horsemen who delighted in drinking and brawling and who had several brushes with the law. The charges against them included horse stealing and cattle rustling. Their example, plus continuous contact with the rough and ready that frequented Mrs. Kelly's 'Bush' lodging house soon took effect.