(1855 -1880)

Ned Kelly was born in 1855 in Beveridge, Victoria, the oldest son of Ellen and John Kelly, who had been transported to Van Diemens Land in 1841. When his father died in 1866 the family moved to Lurg, near Gretna, where the family were constantly at odds with the authorities.

Ned was first charged in 1869, and again a year later, and was not convicted until his third arrest for stock theft. In 1871 he was released, but soon after was arrested and convicted for horse theft, serving three years in Pentridge. Upon his release he tried to distance himself from the bushranging activity that was going on in the area, but the allegations of stock theft which followed him as he worked as a muster led him to contemplate large scale stock theft. This forced the police to initiate a major operation in the area to clamp down on the Kellys and the Quinns in particular.

The Kelly outbreak occurred when trooper Alexander Fitzpatrick visited the Kelly home alleging that the family had tried to kill him - a rather dubious accusation. Mrs Kelly was arrested, and the two brothers Ned and Dan absconded, offering to surrender if their mother was released. This was ignored, and Mrs Kelly was sentenced to three years hard labour.

The Kelly brothers along with two others - Hart and Byrne - were outlawed, and a 500 pound reward was offered for their heads. In a gun battle at Stringybark Creek they shot one police constable before making their escape. They remained out of sight until 1878, when they robbed a bank in Euroa Victoria, and another bank in Jerilderie in New South Wales in 1879.

The reward was raised to 8,000 pounds, and black trackers were brought from Queensland to search the countryside. The gang could rely on the support of the pioneers in the north east of Victoria, it seemed.

The gang were captured in 1880 at Glenrowan where a police tip off (possibly by a friend of Byrne's whom the gang had suspected was a police informer) meant that three of the gang were killed and Ned Kelly was captured and brought to trial for the murder of the police constable at Stringybark Creek. He was sentenced to hang, and despite an active campaign for a reprieve Ned Kelly was hanged on 11 November 1880, aged 25.

The young man, already a living legend, in death became a part of Australian folklore. He was the subject of novels, plays, ballads, films and paintings, and could be said to be Australia's first national folk hero.

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