SKULL

The above image of Ned's death mask & skull is from an old OMG brochure.
(you may have seen it before as it has been used by all sections of the media without permission)

WHERE IS NED KELLY’S SKULL?

I have attempted to solve this question since I first wrote an article for ironoutlaw in 1999 (White Stuff)
and then again with Nicky Cowie at bailup.com around 2002.

My thoughts on this subject (in relation to the so called Baxter skull) were confirmed with additional information
in 2004 when a documentary on ABC* found that a skull said to be Ned’s was in fact that of an ex prisoner
named Ernest Knox. (it would appear that these experts were in fact incorrect)

There were several possibilities in relation to Ned’s head.

I made the assumption that Ned’s head was never buried, my reasoning behind this was due to contemporary reports
that the skull was taken away for Phrenologists to examine & therefore not buried with the rest of his remains.
It was also claimed that the skull sat on a public servants desk.

In order to answer the puzzling question of what became of Ned's head we need to look at the possible skulls in order.

Possible skulls:

1/ OMG SKULL
2/ BAXTER’S SKULL
3/1929 SKULL

1/ OMG SKULL:

This skull was on display next to Ned’s death mask. (see image top of page)
It had been given to the National Trust in 1971 (believed to be Ned's) from the Institute of Anatomy in Canberra.
It was displayed as Ned’s from 1972 and up until the theft of 'a skull' in 1978.

To my way of thinking this was most likely Ned’s as it displayed Ned’s prominent features such as his cheek bones.
Sitting side by side with the death mask you could assume that this was in fact Ned Kelly's skull.

2/ BAXTER’S SKULL

Tom Baxter is a farmer in WA who has longed claimed that had taken possession (stolen) of Ned’s skull from a display
cabinet at the Old Melbourne Gaol in 1978 as a protest against Ned being kept in such a fashion.

I never accepted that this was Ned as I had always believed that Ned’s head was never buried. Whilst the skull on display
appeared not to have been buried, the one held by Baxter did. Even accounting for its more recent burial by Baxter it just
did not look right.

Examination of two photographs by a forensic radiographer at my request resulted in an unofficial find that the skull held by
Baxter was not the same as the one at the Old Melbourne Gaol previously on display.

A 2004 ABC* documentary found that the Baxter skull belonged to an executed prisoner named Ernest Knox.
A 2011 SBS** documentary has found that the Baxter skull most likely belonged to Frederick Deeming.

We shall know the results soon, however testing of DNA proved conclusively that this skull is not Ned Kelly’s.

3/1929 SKULL

This skull was removed from a coffin dug up by workmen demolishing the Old Melbourne Gaol to make way for the
new Workingman’s College. Due to the markings EK on the wall all assumed this was Ned. Despite the addition of
quick lime the bones were well preserved. Once opened every worker made a mad dash for a souvenir of the famous
bushranger. The authorities requested that bones must be removed, unfortunately we have no record of how that worked out.
A skull was taken from the group of souvenir hunters by the site foreman, he gave the head to authorities after souveniring a tooth.

Testing of DNA of this tooth & the skull have now (2011**) proven that the skull found in 1929 was not that of Ned Kelly.
It was however reported in the documentary that the full skeletal remains found that day were Ned Kelly’s. They believed that
perhaps Frederick Deeming’s head was in Ned’s coffin.

In conclusion:

Thanks to the documentary Ned's Head we know Ned’s skeleton has been identified.
We also know that a palm sized portion of his skull was also found with his remains.
I am not convinced that Ned’s bones were the ones found under the wall marked ‘EK’ because the skeleton was almost intact
despite souvenir hunters reported as having taken some of his bones.

We are now looking for a skull with a large section missing at the rear.

A mystery remains in that initial photographs of the Baxter skull showed more teeth than the one on display as Ned’s before the theft.

So where is Ned’s skull? Failing someone locating it at the archives I think that the next we hear of it may be when a resident of the
Pentridge Village digs in their garden.

Was it Frederick Deeming’s skull displayed next to Ned’s death mask?

Dave White.

*ABC Rewind 2004

**SBC Ned's Head

NEWSPAPER ACCOUNTS:

The clipping above is from the HeraldSun 20 June 2010.

AN INTERVIEW WITH IAN JONES ABOUT THE SKULL.

BELOW IS AN ARTICLE FEATURING GLENROWAN HISTORIAN GARY DEAN.

HOT TOPIC: Kelly researcher Garry Dean with copies
of Ned Kelly's death mask and armor at his museum
at Glenrowan. PHOTO: Cheryl Browne

Wangaratta Chronicle.