Jan 27 2008
Kelly Gang
Ned Kelly, Joe Byrne, Dan Kelly and Steve Hart.
Article by Glen Davis
To describe these four young men as a gang is a bit of a misnomer. They found themslves outlawed in may ways by circumstances, rather than by planning to band together, to take up arms and operate outside of society.
The four young men were Australian born sons of Irish selectors. Their families had come to Australia seeking a new land free of the oppresion and poverty of Ireland . None the less they found many of the injustices of the old land coupled with the freedom and challenges of the new land.
Thus we see the struggles of the selectors against corrupt police and bureacrats, who allowed the wealthy squatters to manipulate the land laws. We see the Fitzpatrick episode, where the two Kelly brothers were on the run from the authorities. They camped up in the ranges and friends and relatives passed through spending time with them. It was only by sheer circumstance that Joe Byrne and Steve Hart were present on the day of the Stingybark Creek shootings.
This led to a period of 20 months of outlawry where they combined their criminal activities with being surrogate spokespersons for the grievance of the local selectors.
However Glenrowan, with all its hope and promise was a disaster. Young Dan aged 19, Sreve aged 21 and Joe aged 23, all lost their lives. Ned was restored to health as the State wished to execute him as a warning to others who would challenge the system. On that perfidious date 11/11, this time in 1880 he was hanged, aged just 25.
The four young outlaws, brought together by circumstance, rather than as a plan, live on in the imagery, hopes and desires of milions of Australians who wish for a better world. Let us continue their struggles against injustice and opression, and build a better world.
Photo: The Kelly gang - from an original photograph, Steve Hart, Dan Kelly, Ned Kelly
Image courtesy of the National Library of Australia. The identity of the men in the photo is disputed, but the consensus is that one of them is Ned.
