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The image above is James (Jim) Kelly
James "Jim" Kelly was born July 31, 1859.
Even though he was a member of the Kelly family
(he was Ned Kelly's younger brother and Dan Kelly's older brother),
he avoided becoming a member of the Kelly Gang
due to a series of events that seemed unfortunate at the time. Yet,
those events helped to possibly save his life and allowed him to live
to a ripe old age.
Jim's first brush with the law was in 1871 when he was twelve years
old, he and a ten year old Dan were charged with illegally using a
horse. Jim had been working for a hawker, Mr. Krafft, and when Krafft
put his horse in the Kelly paddock, Jim and Dan decided to go for a
ride. Mr. Krafft was not amused and had Constable Flood arrest them.
Luckily, the Magistrate dismissed the charges.
Jim got into more serious trouble in 1873, when he was fourteen. He
and another youth were charged with cattle stealing and were quite
harsely sentenced
to to five years in Beechworth Gaol. He was released after serving
four years.
He returned home as a full grown man, not the boy they remembered and
soon left to go to Wagga Wagga, where he ran into more trouble. He was
arrested in 1878 for horse stealing and was given a three year
sentence. He gave an entirely different name, year and place of birth
to the police there. His prison record stated that he was James Wilson
and born in 1855 in Dublin. The authorities would later learn that his
name was Kelly and that he was related to Ned Kelly. In 1879 Constable
Alexander Fitzpatrick had been dispatched to Sydney to keep an eye on
the wharves and railways for any sign of the Kellys who might be
trying to make their escape through NSW. While there he was sent over
to Darlinghurst Gaol with an older prison photo of Jim to ascertain
whether or not it was actually Jim being held there as was rumoured.
He positively identified him and the prison records were corrected.
In a March 1879 report, he says that Jim was going under the alias of
Wilson, but
oddly, a bit later in another report he says the following:
"I beg to report for the information of the Supt. of Police while I
was in Sydney in Feb 1879 from information I received I went to
Darlinghurst Gaol and saw a man under the name of McDonald who I
identified as Jim Kelly, a brother to the outlaws...he resembled his
brother Ned Kelly very much."
Jim was again a free man by early 1880 and returned home to Victoria.
He laid very low for quite some time. One report had him as working at
a Melbourne boot factory. He made an appearance at the very end of the
siege of Glenrowan when he attended Dan and Steve's funerals.
While it is not recorded that he attended Ned's trial in Melbourne, he
was in the city helping to gain support for the Reprieve Petition to
save Ned's life. Crowds would follow him and Wild Wright and the Kelly
sisters around the city and many pressed forward to shake Jim's hand.
After the trial and the failure of the Reprieve, Jim was allowed to
visit Ned one last time at the Old Melbourne Gaol on November 4th.
At the time of the execution, Jim was at the Robert Burns Hotel with
other supporters and sympathisers, and at the stroke of ten was heard
to say "Ah, well, the poor devil is out of his misery anyhow by this
time."
That very night he and Kate along with Ettie Hart appeared on stage at
the Apollo Theatre. Oddly, his name was not on the bill, it stated
"Miss Kate Kelly and Her Brother."
The police shut them down before they could do a repeat performance
and they took their show on the road to Sydney where the local police
put a halt to the proceedings.
Jim returned home and there were fears and rumours that he and the
brothers of Joe Byrne and Steve Hart might start another Kelly Gang.
It never eventuated. He told a constable that "I will not enter the
bush; I have got a good trade; I can earn 3 pounds a week making
boots; and I am too fond of going to theatres, and taking girls into
the gardens at night, for the work; but should I ever be interferred
with by the police I will not do as Ned has done; I will shoot every
man and have satisfaction."
Jim did get into one last spot of trouble in 1881 when he and Wild
Wright were arrested for horsestealing in Chiltern. One newspaper said
that just before being arrested Jim fired four revolver shots and said
"come on" to the policeman, but he and Wild rode off when the
policeman actually did come on! A loaded revolver was later found
under his pillow after he was arrested.
At the trial, the judge said that "he did not know personally whether
the prisoner was a relative to the criminal who had recently suffered
for his crimes in Victoria." Jim replied "Yes, I am, your Honor. I
don't deny it." The judge ended up giving him "five years on the
public roads of the Colony." The news reported that "on being
removed, Kelly waved his hat and jokingly made a thrust at the
bailiff's assistant." Wild was acquitted. In 1882, the pair were
before a judge again on a horsestealing charge and Jim appeared in
court in chains as he was currently serving the five year sentence.
The irons were struck off after the Crown Prosecutor reminded the
Judge that that it was "contrary to the principles of British justice
to bring a prisoner in irons into court." James told the judge that he
had stolen the mare and Wild had nothing to do with it. The judge
decided that it would be "useless proceeding against Kelly, as if
found guilty he would only receive an hour's imprisonment as he was
already undergoing a heavy sentence." Wild once again got an
acquittal.
In 1886 when Jim was again a free man he set up shop as a bootmaker
and seemed to be trying to stay on the straight and narrow.
In 1898 upon the death of his sister Kate in Forbes, he went to get
her four children to bring them home so he and his mother, Ellen
Kelly, could care for them. The youngest, just a baby, had died before
he arrived, but the three older children came back to Greta with him.
Jim devoted his life to taking care of his mother and nieces and
nephew. He never married.
Jim eventually took work as a drover and was interviewed in 1911 by
B.W. Cookson for his Kelly Gang From Within newspaper series. He gave
an emotional and impassioned interview, as did Mrs. Kelly. The old
wounds were still very raw decades later.
Mrs. Kelly (who was technically Mrs. King) died in 1923. On the death
certificate Jim listed the children that Mrs. Kelly had from both of
her marriages. He left off two names, one of them was the name Ellen
Frost, who was an illegitimate child who died in infancy, and the
other name left off was that of his brother Ned.
At the newspaper office, when he went to put in the
death notice, the lady behind the desk was Sylvia Living, the daughter
of Edward Living (Edward was a clerk at the Bank of New South Wales
when the Kellys raided it and who was the one whom Ned gave the
Jerilderie Letter to as he promised to get it published for him..but
he went back on his word). Sylvia asked Jim about what family to add
in the notice and he said "Oh, we will have none of that."
Jim remained in the area and lived on as a well-liked and respected
citizen. He died on December 18, 1946 and was buried in an unmarked
grave.
(The text above was supplied by Sharon Hollingsworth)
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