Hogan's Wallan hotel where Ned has been embraced wholeheartedly. (Photo's D. White)

                                                                                                   Wallan cemetery where Const Bracken is buried.

A SIGN declaring Wallan the birthplace and home town of Australias most infamous 
bushranger, Ned Kelly, has prompted historical debate about finer details of his life.

A resident of Beveridge, who preferred to remain anonymous, has responded to the signs 
with a poem debunking the claim and countering that Beveridge had a greater claim to a 
Kelly connection:

Now no-ones really sure

Of where young Ned was born;

But the claims on Wallans fine hotel

Are to be treated with only scorn.

Hogans Hotel manager Steve Greenwood said he hoped the hotels focus on Ned Kelly 
and his activities in the district would inspire local residents and local businesses to take 
a stronger interest in one of Australias greatest icons.

He said he believed the Wallan link to be correct.

Mr Greenwood and hotel owner Jim Hogan share long-standing personal interest in the 
Ned Kelly legend. 

We went to the Ned Kelly exhibition at the Old Melbourne Gaol earlier this year and as 
soon as you walked in the door there were bright orange letters spelling out: Wallan Wallan: 
the beginning. Mr Greenwood said.

There are local people here who'll tell you that he was born in William Street, Wallan.

Mr Greenwood said Ned Kelly's first arrest had occurred when Ned was 10 years old in 
High Street, Wallan.

He said the hotel had commissioned a wooden carving of the bushranger and replicas 
of his armour, which were planned to accompany a detailed history of Kelly's activities, 
particularly in the local district.

The last thing we want to do is ruffle any local feathers, he said.

Mr Greenwood said Ned Kelly's connection with the district was a strong tourism card that 
had been played to enormous local benefit in other towns such as Glenrowan, and he hoped 
the district could also benefit.

Source: The Free Press (Kilmore) November 2002.

........................................................................................

Back to books on Ned's history.

HOGANS Hotel manager Steve Greenwood is clearly surprised by the level of debate surrounding signs on the hotels walls declaring Wallan the birthplace of Ned Kelly.

They've been up for a few months and nobody took any notice, he said.

Now discussions of varying intensity are happening from Beveridge to Broadford and probably further afield.

Mr Greenwood said his further reading included Ned and the Others by Dagmar Balcarek and Gary Dean and the only watertight assertion they make is that as direct evidence has not yet been discovered, the Kelly historians can only use their logic and guess.

The book's first chapter, entitled 'The birth of an Australian Son' says 'the truth is that even to this day we don't know precisely when and where Ned Kelly was really born.'

The birth certificates of Ned's brothers and sisters, the death certificate of his father (whose death Ned had personally registered), the records of a visiting school inspector, and later some prison records would give some indication as to the time of his birth, but when compared, it falls between November 1854 and June 1855, the book says.

As for the place of his birth, it was more likely his grandparents place, the Quinn homestead at Wallan . . .

The book records the mystery surrounding Ned's christening records all the children born to John and Ellen Kelly were christened but Ned's christening, records have never been found.

The writers noted a letter from a Canon T. Hourigan in County Cavan, Ireland, which states that the Canon was shown an entry of Ned Kelly in the register of Baptism in St. Brigid's Church in Kilmore.

Kilmore Historical Society president Dianne Le Quiniat said in the past six months she has had three enquiries from people wanting to establish whether they have family connections to the infamous bushranger, however, the society's records are not conclusive.

One of the society's foremost researchers, Anne Holloway, in a letter to The Free Press, said it was unclear whether Ellen (nee Quinn) Kelly would have had her children in her home or at her mother's just over the hill to the north.

Everybody is just guessing, she said.

Ned Kelly's birth certificate, which was displayed in a shop window for Kilmore's centenary celebrations during the 1930s, mysteriously disappeared, she said.

Beveridge resident Jeanette Laffan quotes from acknowledged Kelly authority, Ian Jones, . . . in his definitive Kelly biography Ned Kelly: A Short Life that Ned Kelly's birth in December 1854, almost certainly took place in Beveridge at the family's home at that time on the southern slope of Mt Fraser.

Ned's exact birth date is not known, but from the evidence of his school records that give his age in years and months, we do know that it was in December 1854, Ms Laffan said.

It is well documented that the Kelly family lived in the cottage in Kelly Street, Beveridge, now known as the Kelly House, from 1859 to January 1864 and Ned's siblings, James, Dan and Kate were born in this house.

This is the only one remaining of the three Kelly homes in Beveridge.

In contrast, there is no evidence to support Ned's links with Wallan, apart from the fact that his maternal grandparents, James and Mary Quinn, owned and lived on the property now known as Walnarring on Merriang Road, Wallan East.

Ms Laffan also disputed claims that Ned Kelly was first arrested by police as a 10-year-old in High Street, Wallan.

At the age of 10, he was living in Avenel, she said.

His first brush with the law occurred in 1870, when he was arrested at Eleven Mile Creek for assault at the age of 15.

Beveridge is very proud of its history and while I am all for fostering enthusiasm for the areas Kelly links and a greater knowledge of our local history, let's stick to the facts.

Mr Greenwood said the hotel had a considerable collection of books on the subject of Ned Kelly for the public to view and had commissioned an agent to source a wide range of Ned Kelly memorabilia.

A carving and other art works depicting the Ned Kelly story were also commissioned, he said.

We're not going away on this, Mr Greenwood said.

I don't care whether he came from Wallan or whether he came from Beveridge  let's get together in the area and make the most of it.

 Source: The Kilmore Free Press. (November 2002)

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