BLOG

Updated 18 Sep 2008.

I thought it was about time I started a BLOG on various subjects pertaining to Ned.

Seeing the amount of misinformation out there about Ned I figured this would be a good place to
have my say.

If you wish to make further comments just send to me with the word 'BLOG' in the subject line.

Most importantly please understand that these words contain my opinions alone.

THE SKY IS FALLING

The world sure does appear to be falling apart right now.
This economic disaster is something we have never seen at such levels before and who knows where it will stop.
There is not really much we can do about it right now and what we need is an escape from the current madness.
With that in mind may I suggest spending time reading and learning about the Ned Kelly story.
Go back to the 1800's into the life and times of The Kelly Gang. Take your mind of your troubles.
While you are thinking about the 'old days' have a think of how harsh life was back then, no welfare, no electricity,
none of today's luxuries. It was a harsh environment and life was a tough hand to mouth existence, where would you
rather be?

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NED KELLY WALKED OUT FROM THE BLAZING HOTEL INTO THE DIRECT RIFLE FIRE OF THE POLICE
BEFORE BEING FELLED BY SGT STEELE'S SHOTGUN BLAST.

This statement above is the sort of headline one could expect from a reporter or writer in colonial times.
Unfortunately this sort of comment is still being used today to describe Ned's actions at Glenrowan.

Time after time books and articles describe Ned 'coming out of the front of the burning Glenrowan Inn'.
We even see paintings and sketches depicting Ned standing (guns blazing) at the front of the Inn.

The reality is that Ned did in fact leave and subsequently return to the Inn several times, however he
was well and truly in custody before the Inn was fired by the police. (Ned was captured about 7am and
the Inn was burned down around 3pm)

The only time Ned stood firing from the front of the Inn was around 3:10am when the police first arrived
at the siege.

Ned came from behind the police lines, he did not come out of the 'blazing inn' to fight his famous 'Last Stand'.

The article in today's newspapers referring to the auction for Sgt Steele's sword said the following:
"Ned Kelly, wearing his now famous armour, emerged from the hotel".

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SOMETIMES DOING THE RIGHT THING IS NOT WORTH THE EFFORT.

On September 13 2008 I rode my bike to Kyneton to check out the site of the old
Court-house and cell where Ned was in 1870.

My visit was prompted for two reasons, one to see if news reports about trees set to be
chopped at the court-house site were true and secondly to revisit the pub where Ned
stayed during his time in Kyneton (courtesy Vic Police) and see if they had any further
information for me.

The Kyneton court-house is close to the old bluestone cell which Ned was a guest of.
Last time I visited the site I took a photo of the outer wall of the cell. A passing
officer of the law saw me and had a word to me about taking a photo whilst a prisoner
was in the cell.

With this misdemeanour in mind this time I thought I would 'do the right thing' and ask permission
before taking any photos of the cell.

I could just as easily have taken a zoom shot some distance from the the cell, resulting in a photo
almost as good but I wanted a clear close up. The cell wall is surrounded by a fence and has roller
shutters at both ends, the police park their cars in this area.

So here I was thinking I was doing the right thing and entered the station. Now I know that I was
wearing my bike gear and I do look a bit rough around the edges but I did not expect the treatment
I received at the hands of a young policeman.

I explained the purpose of my visit and that I was trying to 'do the right thing'.
What is your name? What do you do for a living? What is your interest in the Cell?
Give me your drivers licence ETC...I answered the questions and thought that by explaining
that I work for a Law Enforcement Agency myself and that my wife had been a Police
Officer for 24 years that this might stand me in good stead and even perhaps get me an inside
tour of said cell.

Something told me this bloke does not like Ned Kelly at all, for he treated me like
a criminal myself and when I asked questions about the proposed changes to the area
he was not interested in the slightest in what I had to say.

Now I am not one to bag our police and my best mate is one of our finest, however I
must say that if the sort of treatment I received is typical of how Kyneton Police treat
visitors then heaven help us all.

To see the photos I took see my Kyneton page.

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THIS WARRANTS FURTHER INVESTIGATION.

ESTRAY RECORDS.

In the news yesterday [SEE NEWSROOM LINK] there was an article about a
Ned Kelly arrest warrant from 1876 being offered for auction. In the news
article it states: "the warrant includes the first recorded description of
Kelly." But how can that be when there was an earlier description of
Ned in the June 1867 Victorian Police Gazette?

Also the article states that:
"A secret owner has held the warrant in his private collection since
1965. The Victorian Government owns the three other known Kelly arrest
warrants."

My first thought was "how can it be legal to offer a government document
for auction?" I know a lot of documents went missing in the '60's from the
archives at Laverton in Victoria. I have never heard of PROV giving away
nor selling any of these Kelly documents. Many more were 'souvenired'
from police stations that had held the records since they were written.
My next thought was "Perhaps the Victorian Government should look into
retrieving the document".
There is precedence for just such an action, as back in 2002, the NSW
Government was able to retrieve several telegrams and a letter relating
to the Ned Kelly hunt that had been put up for auction.

The NSW government had to take legal action to re-gain possession of its
property back then and did have to pay the vendor, but nowhere near
what the open market value would have been (it is illegal to sell government
documents on the open market).
There have been other cases where the government got back what was
rightfully theirs.

See these two articles for more info on the earlier auction:

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/09/10/1031116000513.html

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s344267.htm

I am not making any accusations here as to how the owner came to be in
possession of such a document, I simply do not believe it should be in
private hands in the first place, as we all should have the right to see it.

Let's hope that the Victorian Government will take some action to retrieve
this document.

(As an aside, the man behind the auction is Tom Thompson, whom you may
remember from a previous auction of the alleged Kate Kelly/Constable
Fitzpatrick pistol.)

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PENTRIDGE IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF HOW WE DESTROY OUR HERITAGE.

Today I went out to Pentridge for yet another look at the destruction of this site.
There is definitely a few areas that after ten years of work are finally looking ok.
I speak of the D Division area and what was the old Metro section. Today this area
houses a restaurant and some gardens which have fountains in the centre and is not too bad.
However, and there is always an however with me.......why does no one care about
the old guard towers? Sure, the top of them and the walkway (once the domain of the
guards) is not of great age, however, they are part of what once was Pentridge prison.
When the prison closed the towers were in good condition, now they are constantly
vandalised with rocks smashing the glass and the tin roofing all but fallen off.
With the original bluestone still a major part of these towers, I wonder how they will look
when there is nothing more than just this stone to see? Once it is gone it is gone forever.

Seeing this mess was nothing compared to the shock I was about to get when I drove a bit
further in. The area where I believe the graves were recently found and the bones removed
has unfortunately had a road plonked over the top of it. It would have been nice to see some
sort of memorial to the persons buried there and perhaps left them in situ. One should have
known this would never happen, nothing is sacred when it comes to the mighty dollar!

I wonder if the people I saw today eating there meals at the restaurant which once housed
the Metropolitan Prison reflect on where they actually are and just how much of this place
has been destroyed , I guess they do not.

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ANOTHER AUSTRALIAN HISTORY BOOK THAT MISSES THE MARK WITH NED.

I cannot tell you how many times I have gotten myself all excited after seeing a book in
the shops which has a section on Ned......only to be disappointed to find that the author
simply has no idea when it comes to Ned Kelly. A recent one was a book about Victorian
Hangings. That particular publication had most of the section on Ned incorrect and now
we have yet another.

The title of this new book is 'Notorious Australians'.
Author: Toby Cresswell

With only 4 pages the following errors were spotted.

Ned was born 3 June 1855
*We have no idea when Ned was actually born.

Ned created the armour after seeing a US warship that had armour plating.
*There are several theories about the creation of the armour, the warship one has only been
thrown around a couple of times and does not really hold much water in my opinion. (amended).

Ned gave calf testicles to a MATRON.
*This one has me really lost, the testicles went to Mrs McCormack who was not known as a 'matron'.

Ellen Kelly & baby were arrested after Fitzpatrick affair (no time lag) and Ned was out of the state.
*Whilst it is correct that Ellen was arrested, she was not taken away at the time Fitzpatrick was at the
house as this book infers. Also there is no evidence Ned was out of the state.

Ned outlawed after the Fitzpatrick affair.
*Ned was Outlawed after the death of the police at Stringybark Creek, not after the Fitzpatrick affair.

At Jerilderie Ned dictated the manifesto.
*Ned 'took' his letter to Jerilderie to have it printed, he did not dictate it there.

At Glenrowan Ned had another manifesto.
*Ned did not take a manifesto to Glenrowan.

Ned returned to the Hotel to fight alongside his mates.
*Ned was in the act of heading toward the Inn, coming from behind the police lines, when he was finally
captured. He never actually made it to his 'mates' nor the Inn (Hotel).

(I had to take mental notes as I had no intention of buying this book.)

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GOOGLE CHROME A DUD!

Now don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of all things 'Google'.
I use Google's G-mail and my home page is www.google.com.au
However I was very disappointed to find that when I opened this site under Google's 'CHROME'
the black text was simply not there! If I opened my other site at www.glenrowan1880.com it all
seemed to work fine. Both sites have grey backgrounds and black text, so I have no idea what
the problem is. Such is Life.

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WAS NED KELLY ADOPTED? (Yeah, right!)

In today's paper (Sunday Herald Sun 24th August 2008) there was an article claiming that
"Kelly buffs and historians" wanted the coroner to get Ned's DNA from his boots and silk sash.

Fair enough, I guess, but why? Well, it seems they believe that in doing so we may be able
to sort out if Ned was among the bones recently found at Melbourne's Pentridge prison.

I am sure I read that to do so would cost over $200,000 as there are several sets of bones.
With that in mind is there any point in spending such a sum? Not to mention costs involved
in gaining DNA from the boots or sash.

If DNA is required, direct descendent Ellen Hollow has publicly offered her blood for testing.

In my opinion Ned was never re-buried there in the first place so this would really be a
huge waste of money.

The article went on to say when quoting Bill Denheld (not "Denhold" as the article mistakenly had):

"DNA from Kelly's descendants might not be conclusive, because some researchers believed Kelly was
adopted as a young child, he said."

What absolute crap! I would be very surprised is Bill actually stated the above as he is quoted as doing.
(unfortunately at this stage it appears Bill may well have been quoted as the paper stated)

The idea of Ned having been adopted can most likely be attributed to a woman who once lived in Greta
and wrote a series of books about Ned that are not worthy of mention on any serious Ned Kelly site.

The furphy was that Ned was not really a Kelly, give us all a break!

This woman even had Ned killing a man and throwing the body down a well. (as recorded in the Sun Herald 1991)

How can we maintain the credibility in our history when rot like this is printed? Dave.

UPDATE: Yes Bill does in fact believe this rubbish. Stand by for yet another blog on this subject!