Ned Kelly

“Images and transcript of the Jerilderie Letter at the State Library of Victoria”

“Images, transcript and audio of John Hanlon's transcript of the Jerilderie Letter at the National Museum of Australia”

“"Ned Kelly's Jerilderie Letter" in the La Trobe Journal No. 66 (Spring 2000)”

“Ned's story falls on that universal fault line that makes someone a rebel or a freedom fighter to one group and an outlaw or a terrorist to another. He is regularly attacked as a thief and murderer. Much less regularly is it recalled that a government inquiry the year after the Kelly outbreak demoted or suspended most of the police involved. But what makes Ned a legend is not that everyone sees him the same—it's that everyone sees him. Like a bushfire on the horizon casting its red glow into the night.”

“In California this man ... would have been dragged out of gaol and lynched. I don't admire the mob for superseding the law, but the spirit in which it is done there contrasts strangely with the exaltation here of Kelly as a hero.”

“He had a rare type of eyes—'alexandrite' eyes that sometimes glowed a startling crimson when he became excited.”

“I was a school kid at Jerilderie when Ned Kelly and his gang took possession of the township ... Like all the other youngsters in the place, I was keen to get a glimpse of the famous outlaw. ... I saw him come out of [the hotel] and squat on the verandah's edge to have a smoke. He beckoned me over, asked me my name and so forth―and then he gave me a short lecture. I can assure you, a Sunday school superintendent couldn't have given me sounder advice as to human conduct. ... He gave me a shilling, I ought to have kept it.”

“The juvenile highwayman and companion of the notorious Power, on being brought before the Benalla bench, ... seemed quite indifferent to the danger of his position. While casting his eyes occasionally amongst the crowd, he smiled complacently and assumed a jaunty air. ... While confined in the lockup, he sang "like a bird," and appeared proud of his position. The misguided youth evidently considers himself a character to be admired.”

“Oh, what a pretty garden.”

“Keep your freedom. It's the best thing you have. Never become a bushranger unless you are absolutely forced to it.”

“Although I have been bushranging I have always believed that when I die I have a God to meet.”

“If they were in my position they would not smile much.”

“My mates are all gone; it is a sad affair, but of course it can't be helped now.”

“I wanted to see the thing end.”

“They [the Government of Victoria] are all damned fools to bother their heads about Parliament at all, for this is our country.”

“The bloody banks are crushing the life's blood out of the poor, struggling man.”

“A man that kills his enemy, particularly an enemy out to slaughter him, is no murderer, and all police are my enemies.”

“It is a very easy matter for me to pull the trigger, if you do not keep a civil tongue in your head.”

“I am Ned Kelly, son of Red Kelly, as good a blood as any in the land.”

“I'm a bushranger.”