True History of the Kelly Gang is a novel written by Peter Carey. Released in 2000, it is notable for its unique frantic style - written as though it was penned out by Ned Kelly himself. The novel recounts the life of the famous Australian bushranger and his encounters with the law.
Characters[]
- Ned Kelly
- Harry Power - a well-known bushranger
- John "Red" Kelly - Ned's father
- Ellen Quinn Kelly - Ned's mother
- Annie Kelly - Ned's older sister, described by Ned as being rather pessimistic
- Jimmy Quinn - Ned's uncle, an extremely good judge of horses who turns against him after the arrest of Harry Power
- Uncle Jack Lloyd - Ned's uncle, nearly hanged for arson
- Uncle Pat Quinn - one of Ned's uncles
- Dan Kelly - Ned's brother
- Mary Hearn - the mother of Ned's daughter
- Jem Kelly - Ned's brother
- Maggie Kelly - Ned's younger sister
- Grace Kelly - Ned's younger sister
- Kate and Jane Quinn - Ned's aunts
- Ben Gould - a hawker
- Constable Hall - a constable who feigns friendship with Ned
- Constable Fitzpatrick
- Thomas Curnow - a schoolteacher who feigns friendship with Ned and then shoots him in the legs
- George King - a later suitor of Ellen
- Steve Hart - a cousin of Wild Wright who crossdresses
- Isiah "Wild" Wright - a man who accidentally causes Ned to be arrested for horse stealing
- John O'Reilly - a tradesman and blacksmith who briefly visits the community in Bullock Creek
- Bill Frost - one of Ellen's suitors, a self-proclaimed expert on farming
- Constable Alex Fitzpatrick - a cheating and (possibly) paedophilic colonel who briefly allies with Ned before being shot by his former ally for trying to marry his teenaged sister
- John Fitzpatrick - a young colonel who befriends Ned in jail
- Joe Byrne - a former criminal who helps Ned in his boxing match by
- Alex Gunn - one of Ellen's suitors, and the husband of Annie Kelly
- Edward Rogers - the publican of the Imperial Hotel
- Justice Redmond Barry - a justice in the township of Greta
- Sergeant O'Neil - a sergeant who relentlessly bullies Ned
- Zinke - a laywer hired by Harry Power
- Turk Morrison - one of Ellen's suitors, said to sing love songs
- Magistrate R.R. McBean - a Magistrate encountered by Ned and Harry
- Mrs. Goodman - a frequent purgerer
- Caitlin - a young girl staying at Harry Power's farmhouse
Publisher's summary[]
Ned Kelly - Australia's most potent legend - tells his own story of the very human man behind the mask. A young boy raised in the grinding poverty of colonial Victoria grows into a young man defying the wealth and power of those who would destroy him. He speaks to us not as a mythic hero but as a devoted son, a concerned father and a loyal friend.
This internationally acclaimed novel is written in the idiom of Kelly's famous Jerilderie letter. It is both lament and tribute, a boy's defence of his mother and a father's confiding letter to a daughter he will never meet.
Plot[]
As the police descend on the Kelly Gang, their leader steps out in a makeshift suit of armour which makes him invulnerable to gunfire. He mocks the police while firing at them and seems unstoppable until a nearby farmer blasts him in the legs with a shotgun. After this, Kelly is apprehended. Shortly after his arrest, thirteen parcels filled with papers written by Kelly are found.
Parcel 1: His life until the age of 12[]
Inside of each parcel is a collection of letters written by Ned to his daughter. Ned begins the first letter by introducing his father. Born in Tipperary, Ned's father Jack was transported to the "prisons of Van Diemen's Land". After being tortured in the prisons, Jack was sent to Victoria. Due to his time spent in Van Diemen's Land, Jack became extremely paranoid about the police and walked to the small village of Donnybrook. It was here he met a young woman named Ellen Quinn. The two fell in love and married - moving to Avenel shortly after this.
Ned's first memory is of his mother trying to bring a cake to his uncle Jimmy (who was being held in the local Police Camp). As a rainstorm raged overhead, one of the local Sergeants tore open the cake to "inspect" it. As such, Ellen had to push the ruins cake under the door of Jimmy's cell and spent several minutes yelling out her hatred for the police after this. Two days later, Ned's mother and father argue about the police.
Several years later, a Sergeant named O'Neil visits the Kelly's house. Though he is initially friendly to Ellen, he becomes extremely bitter after Ellen (presumably) turns down his sexual advances. At first, O'Neil threatens to arrest Ellen but then he decides to embarrass her in front of her children by telling the story of a "Certain Someone" who had a grudge with a farmer for throwing a tenant out of his property. Due to this, the "Certain Someone" gathered a gang of his friends and murdered the farmer and his entire family. After being caught, the "Certain Someone" gave up his friends to avoid the death penalty and was sent to Van Diemen's Land. Having told his story, O'Neil leaves. When Ned asks his mother who the "Certain Someone" was, she refuses to answer and clips him around the ears.
As Ned grows up, Sergeant O'Neil becomes a frequent menace in his earlier years. After he and one of his brothers named Jem watch a mob of cows, O'Neil claims that Ned's father was seen dressed in women's clothing. Upon hearing this, Ned assumes it to be a lie and beats O'Neil up. Shortly after this, Ned's father escapes death at the hands of rioting natives while Ned beats up a local bully for repeating the tale of his father crossdressing. Unfortunately for Ned, the tale turns out to be true. While playing outside, Ned's younger sister Maggie finds a buried chest with a dress inside of it. Deeply disturbed by this, Ned burns the dress and puts the chest in plain view for his father to find.
Shortly after this rift forms between father and son, Ned's mother begins to argue with her husband over moving to a larger plot of land with the help of a Land Act. Though Jack is hesitant to move, he agrees to take out a new plot of land and sells basically everything he owns to pay for it. Unfortunately, Jack decides against giving any money to the government and instead moves to the township of Avenel - spending the money on rent and booze. Once Jack returns, he argues with his wife about her family (who he views as beacons for police attention).
While wandering outside, Ned finds a calf belonging to one Mr. Murray and decides to kill it. As it is Ned's first time killing a living creature larger than a rooster, the calf dies an extremely miserable and drawn out death (something that Ned deeply regrets for the rest of his life). Ned's mother finds him covered in the creature's blood. The Kellys cook the body of the calf and make its skin (minus its brand) into leather. Unfortunately for them, this draws the attention of the police - specifically one Constable Doxcy. Though Ned's father tries to claim that the calf was one of their own, Doxcy sees right through this. Ned tries to take responsibility but Doxcy refuses to believe him and arrests his father.
Shortly before his father was arrested, Ned's mother became pregnant. While Jack was still in prison, Ellen went into labour. Ned had to help his mother deliver the baby while waiting for a doctor to arrive. After Ned's sister Grace was born, Ned visited the jail where his father was being held and announced that he had a new daughter.
Some time after his sister Grace was born and during a massive flood, Ned spotted a young boy named Dick Shelton trying to rescue his hat from a creek before being swept into its waters. Ned jumped into the creek and saved the young boy from drowning. Ned then brought the boy to his parents (specifically at the Royal Mail Hotel, where Dick's father was a licensee). Grateful that their son had escaped drowning, the Sheltons let him eat a fine breakfast and reward him with a sash.
Seeking to help out the Kelly family, Mr. Shelton bails Jack out of jail. Jack returns to his family a broken man (with Ned saying that the jail was simply the final straw in a long series of tortures). By next spring (while Ned is only twelve years old), he contracts dropsy (or edema) and dies shortly after this - his body "bulging with all the poisons of the Empire". Though the bond between father and son had been broken years before, Ned mourns for his father.
Parcel 2: His life ages 12-15[]
After the death of their father, the Kelly children are forced to move into the township of Greta where the rest of the Quinns (minus Ned's uncles, then in jail) and specificially into an abandoned hotel. Shortly after moving, Ned and a relative named Dan noticed an extremely odd figure. At first, Ned thought that this was his father returned from the grave and the fires of hell but the figure soon introduced itself as Uncle James. For a brief time, Uncle James moved into the family but after he tried to exercise his lascivious desires for Ned's mother, he was thoroughly beaten and kicked out of the hotel.
That night, Ned awoke to find the hotel on fire. After helping to save the rest of his family, Ned found Uncle James wandering outside and quickly found that he was one who had set the hotel on fire (presumably out of an extremely drunken sense of resentment). Ned was able to stop his uncle from furthering the blaze and once the police arrived, Ellen basically handed James over to them. While waiting for James' trial, the Kelly children worked and lived at the Quinn farm. During the trial, Uncle James was found guilty and sentenced to death (with this sentence shocking the Kelly family).
Though saddened by possibly causing the death of another person, Ellen soon recovered and bought land for the family in Greta. Shortly after moving, Ellen decided to sell "grog" illegally (something that Ned's sister Annie was extremely fearful about) to get money to improve the property. While selling this "grog", Ellen took many suitors. One of these was the bushranger Harry Power - who tried to get Uncle James' sentence reduced and who was vaguely liked by Ned. Another of these suitors was Alex Gunn, a younger man who helped around the farm. Soon, both became somewhat common figures at the farm. Some time into this, Ellen revealed that Alex Gunn and Annie planned to get married.
Parcel 3: His life at 15 years of age[]
During Annie's marriage, Ellen sends Ned out with Harry Power. Ned leaves with a rush (thinking that he will be back soon) and forgets to put on any boots. Unfortunately for Ned, Harry brings him out into the wilderness and refuses to let him return to his mother. The two argue before Harry brings Ned into a town and buys new boots for him. The next day, Ned nearly returns home but is convinced by the bushranger to stay with him and take part in several highway robberies.
Unfortunately for the two, most of these robberies go poorly. During this time, Harry shows his "apprentice" his compound and Ned learns that his mother has fallen pregnant with Bill Frost (another of Ellen's suitors) from cruel jokes told by a man whom Ned savagely beats. After this beating, Harry dismisses Ned and sends him back home. While Ned is returning home, his mother hears the cry of a banshee. She tracks down what she assumes is said banshee and kills her.
Once home, Ned finds the farmstead in disarray. He learns that his mother effectively sold him to Harry and that she has married Bill. Ned decides to clean up the farmstead and make it into flourishing land. While trying to cut down a tree, Ned and his brother Jem are nearly killed. Before Ned can finish his work, one of the victims of Ned's failed highway robberies (a Chinese miner) visits the farmstead to get a drink from Ellen. He recognizes Ned and (after he is savagely beaten by the Kelly children) rats them out to the law. Ned is arrested and is told that he is to be executed if he does not give up Harry Power. Ned is convinced that the threat of execution is an empty one due to his captors beating him. While in jail, he is visited by a lawyer hired by Harry Power.
Parcel 4: His life at 16 years of age[]
On returning to his family farm, Ned finds his mother and Bill Frost arguing. During one of these arguments, Bill leaves the house and has to be brought back by Ned. A day later, Bill leaves to "spend a week in Melbourne". Seven days later, a messenger from Harry Power arrives. Though Ned initially refuses to do anything with Harry, he realizes that he could convince Harry to either find Bill or help out his mother in other ways. As such, Ned accompanies the messenger out of Greta to where Harry is staying.
Once reunited with Harry, Ned talks about Bill Frost. Harry reveals that he has never stepped foot in Melbourne and is instead at a hotel having an affair. The two decide to visit Bill and kill him for this. While riding to the hotel, the two ride right through a bushfire before reaching the hotel. They find Bill inside of a brothel near the hotel. On seeing Bill, Harry prepares to shoot him in his manhood. Though Bill says that he will give Ellen money, he rushes Harry once his back is turned. This leads Ned to shoot Bill.
Though Bill does not die from this wound, Harry convinces Ned that he has killed Bill and is now wanted for murder. As such, Ned rode with Harry and (believing that he was already a wanted man) helped him commit various highway robberies (including robbing a Magistrate named R.R. McBean of a watch and his horse). After stealing from the Magistrate, Harry and Ned rode through some desolate mountainous land. While at a tavern, the two encountered the supposedly-dead Bill Frost. Greatly angered by this lie, Ned beats Harry and then splits from him - taking the Magistrate's horse from him. While riding through the wilderness, Ned's horse deserts him. Despite this, Ned finds an abandoned shepherd's hut before being reunited with his horse. He soon meets Jimmy Quinn and learns that "the traps" have singled out several of his cousins for his role in the robberies he committed with Harry Power and have already arrested one of his cousins.
Parcel 5: His early contact with senior policeman[]
On hearing of this, Ned decides to turn himself in to the police. Once home, Ellen briefly thinks of returning the horse but is unable to do this before Ned is arrested by the police. He is brought to Melbourne, where he is interrogated by two senior police officers of very different temperament. While one attempted to scare Ned by threatening his family, another pretended to be his friend to get him to implicate Harry Power. Ned gives this officer a small amount of information. The next day, these officers visit Ellen to squeeze information out of her. Despite offering her 5 quid, Ellen refuses to offer any information. The two officers instead find an uncle named Jack Lloyd who they convince to become an informant.
After giving up more information, Ned is put on remand and brought to Melbourne. Instead of being brought to the Melbourne Gaol, Ned is brought to a mansion in Toorak where the Commissioner lurks. At first, the Commissioner demands that Ned play billiards for his own freedom but soon decides to have Ned fight one of his own officers (standing in for himself) in a bareknuckle boxing match. Though Ned wins this match, he is thrown into jail - where he is watched over by the officer who he beat (who is somewhat friendly to Ned despite the beating).
Even after this and despite the prodding of his new "friend", Ned still refuses to give up Harry Power. Despite this, he is released - having spent three weeks as a prisoner. On returning home, Ned finds that his family refuses to even perceive him as they believe he has betrayed Harry Power - who was arrested due to the information that Uncle Jack gave. After learning of this from his younger brother Jem, Ned argues with his mother about this. He is able to convince her that it was Uncle Jack that betrayed Harry. Several hours later, Ellen apologizes to her son.
Parcel 6: Events precipitated by the arrest of Harry Power[]
Though Ned's mother is convinced that he is not a traitor, the rest of his extended family and even the people of Greta turn against him. To escape from this, Ned takes a job with one Constable Hall building a fence. During one "bitter wet" afternoon, two of Ned's uncles begin harrassing him. When Ned tells Constable Hall about this, Hall has him instigate a fight with his two uncles so they can be arrested. Ned does this, but the two uncles savagely attack the cops who attempt to arrest them and escape. Shortly after this, they are arrested and jailed for assault.
Ned then returns to his mother's selection to find that "very poor time[s]" have begun. The only solace is the arrival of a hawker named Ben Gould who fills the Quinns with merriment. Some time into this, a horse belonging to a hawker couple wanders onto the selection. This horse is followed by the couple - who assume that the horse was stolen by Ned. Ben gets them to leave the selection and then has Ned leave an insulting note on their doorstep. While doing this, Ned is found by the couple and accidentally punches one of them in the nose. Due to this, Ned is arrested and sent to jail for six months. Shortly after being released, Ned receives a horse from one "Wild Wright". Unbeknownst to Ned, this horse was stolen. Constable Hall tries to arrest Ned for this but is savagely beaten by Ned - who is arrested and given three years in the Pentridge Gaol.
Parcel 7: His life following his later release from Pentridge Gaol[]
While Ned is in the Pentridge Gaol, Ellen is visited by a man who claims to be able to control rats. This man asks for brandy but is unable to pay for it. When Ellen refuses to serve him, the man claims that he put a curse on the family. Shortly after this, the selection is overran by rats, Ellen and Bill's daughter dies due to an infection, and Annie dies while giving birth to an illegitimate baby. When an American visits the farmstead and demands charity, Ellen (whose character has been broken by the curse) gives this visitor (one George King) what he wants. When Ned returns from prison, he learns that Ellen has started dating this visitor and plans to marry him. He also learns that George plans to support Ellen by stealing horses. To stop his mother from going to jail, Ned tries to convince her not to go through with this.
To support himself, Ned gets a job felling trees and begins trying to set up a horse-breeding operation with a close friend. While working on the job, Ned begins thinking over his life and a deep hatred of Wild Wright forms in his gut. He decides to lure Wright into a confrontation by slandering his brother (whom Wright is deeply protective of). While riding through the plains, Ned finds one of Wild Wright's cousins (one Steve Hart) crossdressing while riding a horse and learns from him that Wild Wright intends to fight him at the Imperial Hotel in Beechworth. On arriving at the Hotel, the owner convinces Ned to fight Wright in an actual boxing match. Though Wild Wright clobbers Ned on the head before the match begins, Ned is able to beat his opponent. He is branded a victor (something that Ned finds a nuisance due to people trying to "beat the victor") and is introduced to the novel Lorna Doone (along with a few works by Shakespeare and pieces of the Bible) by his "mentor" in the match.
Parcel 8: His life at 24 years of age[]
While his mother cared for the younger children, Dan entered into a group known as the "Greta Mob". Shortly after the boxing match, he finds his younger brother drunk in the company of the Mob. While Dan (in his inebriated state) wishes to fight his older brother, Ned carries his brother away while being shadowed by various police officers (who are largely only watching due to the spectacle). Ned attempts to get his brother to join him in his horse-breeding efforts.
Shortly after this, Dan is falsely charged with stealing a saddle while Ned is falsely charged with stealing a horse. Though both are acquitted (with Ned being acquitted after the horse's owner swears that Ned did not steal from him), Ned loses two days' wages while trying to sort the matter out in court. Ned decides to reward the owner by gifting him a bull. Unfortunately, he learns that the police falsely suspect that he stole the bull but, when he meets with various police, learns that this is a false rumour. Shortly after this, a herd of Ned's horses is impounded. Ned decides to break his horses out of the paddock instead of paying the fee. As a consequence, Dan is beaten by the police to send a message to Ned. Enraged by this, Ned sets up a base in the old bolthole of Harry Power and tries to get George King to teach him a method of stealing horses so that he can steal a herd of horses belonging to one Mr. Whitty. Though George is hesitant to do this, he agrees to accompany Ned while he steals the horses.
After the horse-theft, Ned begins to build a community at Bullock Creek. Accompanying him is Joe Byrne (along with a friend of Joe's named Aaron Sherritt) and Dan. As the community begins, Steve Hart tries to enter but Ned (thinking that Steve cannot be trusted) attempts to barr the crossdresser from the community but allows him to have a cup of tea. After this, Steve remains with the community and befriends Dan. Seeing this, Ned boots both of them from the Creek. Three days later, Ned finds Steve and Dan crossdressing in stolen dresses. Though angered by this, Ned decides simply to return the dresses to their owner. On arriving, the owner of the dresses tries to have Ned arrested for stealing them. Fortunately, a visiting corporal is a relative of the officer that watched over Ned while he was in jail. Instead of arresting Ned, Corporal Fitzpatrick brings him to a nearby house with two women in it and has him dance with one of them (who has a baby). Shortly after this, Ned begins dating the girl he danced with.
One day, while returning from "time spent" with Mary Hearn, Ned finds that Steve Hart brought a blacksmith to the secret community. Though Steve states that he put pennies over the merchant's eyes and that the merchant has no real idea of where he is, Ned is still extremely worried by this. As such, he decides to help the blacksmith leave along with the gift of a calf. While riding away from the community with the blacksmith's gift in a cart, they are found by Fitzpatrick. Steve nearly shoots the blacksmith due to this but is only stopped by the fact that Ned gave him an unloaded gun. Fitzpatrick leads Ned away and reveals that he plans to marry Ned's teenaged sister Kate. So that they can talk further, Fitzpatrick pretends to arrest Ned. While travelling with Ned, Fitzpatrick attempts to convince Ned to leave Mary. This fails.
Shortly after this, Ned visits Mary and proposes to her. When he tells Fitzpatrick about this, the constable attempts to get Ned to call it off and then writes an angry letter to Mary. The next day, after finding the letter and being made by Fitzpatrick to drug a glass of lemonade that Ned drinks, Mary reveals that the father of her child is George King. Ned is enraged by this news but is knocked out by the drug as Fitzpatrick carries him away. He awakes the next morning in a cell being watched over by Fitzpatrick and Sergeant Whelan. He is marched out of the cell and onto Arundel Street. It is here that he attacks Fitzpatrick while the constable attempts to handcuff him. Ned fights with the police until a "miller" arrives and has the police desist. Ned lets the "miller" handcuff him but soon finds out that the miller is actually a Magistrate. He is given a fine but is allowed to go free.
Shortly after going free, Ned returns to his mother's farmstead to find George King. Once there, he finds that George King has fled - with his mother having shot at her husband (and the mother of an unborn child now growing within her womb) while he fled. Thinking that she is still cursed, Ned's mother decides to flee for a new farmstead. Shortly after burying King's dead horse, Ned visits his now pregnant lover briefly. Shortly after this, Fitzpatrick attempts to get Mary to talk to Ned for him but she refuses and kicks him out of her property.
While Ned builds a new home for his mother, he tries to get Mary to move in with him. She refuses, fearing that Ned's mother will not like her. This is proven true, as Ellen reveals that she remembers Mary simply as the woman who had "a child off a married man". Fitzpatrick continues to regain Ned's friendship but each time, he fails. Despite this, Fitzpatrick helps Ned to clear up false charges levied against Steve and Dan. Though Dan is cleared of most of the charges, he is slapped with a misdemeanour and sent to jail. Thus ends any trace of friendship between Ned and Fitzpatrick.
While Dan is in prison, he experiences extreme hardship due to the impoverished state of the Australian government. Shortly after Dan is released from prison, Ned is nearly arrested for a false charge of horse theft but escapes to Bullock Creek before Fitzpatrick can arrest him. Despite the warrant out for his arrest, Ned visits his mother's farmstead due to the birth of her new child. While there, he encounters Fitzpatrick - whom is with his young sister Kate. Angered by this, Ned reveals Fitzpatrick's numerous affairs. This enrages Ned's mother - who hits Fitzpatrick over the head with a shovel while Ned shoots him in the hand. Fitzpatrick is nearly shot to death by Ellen but is saved by Ned and is shown meager kindness despite his betrayal of the entire Kelly family.
Parcel 9: The murders at Stringybark Creek[]
After leaving the Kellys, Fitzpatrick reports their "attempted murder" to them. Ned attempts to get his mother to flee the law with him and Dan but she refuses and is arrested. Around this time, Fitzpatrick visits Mary and (using the threat of having her child put in an orphanage) begins trying to blackmail her to give up Ned. Instead of doing this, Mary flees and hides in the home of one of Ned's aunts.
Shortly after joining the "Kelly Gang", Wild Wright learns that the local police plan on murdering Ned Kelly and his acolytes. This is followed by news that the police (led by a sergeant named Kennedy) plan on using a newly-developed machine gun. Several days later, the Gang find that the police have set up a camp in Stringybark Creek - which puts them dangerously close to their hideout. They decide to ambush the police.
When they initially attack the camp, they find two men who they presume are Constables Flood and Stratham. After he shoots and kills one of the men, Ned learns that he has shot one Tom Lonigan. They leave the other man alive and wait for the Constables to arrive. Once Sergeant Kennedy and a policeman named Scanlon arrive, a gunfight begins. Scanlon is almost instantly killed but Kennedy flees for some time before being shot by Ned while (unbeknownst to Ned) trying to surrender. In an act of mercy, Ned allows the man to write a letter to his wife before mercy-killing him.
Shortly after the gunfight at Stringybark Creek, the Gang decide to burn down Harry Power's old hut (in which they had been set up) and look for a new place to settle in. While looking, they realize that Dan was shot and that his wound has become infected. Along with this, rain begins to fall and the land begins to flood. As the Gang rides through Taylor's Gap (which was flooded in the rain), Sergeant Kennedy's note is ruined by the waters. They soon reach Native Dog Peak and find a cave in which they can hide. While in the cave, Ned cauterizes Dan's bullet wound.
That night, while the Gang are still in the cave, they are found by the young sister of an associate named Aaron. This sister reveals to Joe Byrne that he is most likely not wanted but Joe decides to keep with the Gang. Shortly after this, the Gang resumes their travels and run into the Murray River. While at this "maze of swamps and billabongs" they are found by the police. Joe attempts to escape by riding across the severely flooded river while the others escape the police by hiding until they leave. While Steve Hart is sure that Joe drowned, he is proven wrong as the Gang find Joe near where they have camped.
Around this time, the police find Mary Hearn. Two constables descend on where Mary is living and attempt to get her to turn against Ned using her baby (which they assume is Ned Kelly's child). Enraged by this, Mary curses their entire bloodline.
After failing to cross the Murray River, the Gang decides to return to Greta. Steve tells the Gang to go across Wangaratta. Though Joe is hesitant to do this (wishing to go "upriver to Bright"), Ned is convinced to go through Wangaratta. While crossing a "mongrel creek" near the town, they are spotted by a woman but escape into the nearby Warby Ranges before the police even arrive.
Parcel 10: The history is commenced[]
While in Eleven Mile Creek, Ned visits his mother's home. He sights a figure which he thinks is his mother but which reveals itself to be Mary. While speaking with his lover, Ned learns that she has learned a somewhat warped version of the Stringybark Creek shootout from local newspapers. Though Dan wishes for him to leave quickly, Ned remains for some time to explain the truth of what happened.
While hiding out in the house of an unnamed family, Ned learns of a politician named Donald Cameron who seems to not be antagonistic towards him and his family. Though Joe is skeptical of Cameron, Ned decides to write a letter explaining his life story while staying with Mary in the hopes that it will convince Cameron to release his mother from jail early. It is around this time that Ned learns that Mary is pregnant with his child.
Around the time that Ned writes his letter, the police descend on the house Joe, Dan, and Steve are hiding at. Before they can hunt down the bushrangers, Dan and Steve escape while crossdressing (which enrages and disturbs the occupants of the house) and darkening their faces while declaring themselves to be the "Sons of Sieve" alongside Joe (who does not take part in this). When they are found by black trackers, they are able to convince the trackers to let them go and send the police in the opposite direction. Late that night, the three bushrangers reach Glenrowan and are reunited with Mary and Ned. Upon seeing the "Sons of Sieve", Mary is deeply disturbed by their disguises. After recovering from the shock, Mary reveals why she was frightened.
While Mary was a child in Ireland, her father worked for a rich Lord and cared for his horse - which had a birthmark similar to the shape of Ireland on its head. One day, a group of "revolutionaries" wearing the same garb as Steve and Dan surrounded the horse and held a mock-trial for it before gruesomely torturing it to death and beating Mary's father.
Later that night, Ned meets up with Joe and finds him stricken with diarreha. Despite this, the two have something of a discussion about Cameron - whom Joe is still skeptical about. The next morning, Ned wakes up to find Mary holding her baby and asking him to go without her, as her baby has a fever. Ned decides not to do this and instead helps bring the baby's fever down. Shortly after this, they are nearly caught by "the traps" due to Mary's baby crying but Ned is able to stop the baby's crying by letting it suckle on his finger. This is closely followed by the arrival of Aaron Sherritt (whose house was raided by the police) with a supply of "oyouknow" for Joe, who is hopelessly addicted to the drug. Sherritt also brings a letter from Ned's mother - who made it with smuggled paper. This emboldens Ned's hatred of the law and he vows to break his mother out of jail if Cameron does not release her.
As the Gang continues its travels, Ned begins to think of robbing a bank while Joe begins to think about helping the Gang flee California. Ned is able to convince Joe that the only way to finance a trip to America is by robbing a bank. With Mary's help, Ned makes a plan for robbing a bank in Euroa. Before robbing the bank, the Gang sticks up a homestead known as Faithfull's Creak Station. They hold the people within the Station hostage (treating them with civility according to Ned and Mary) before using a check from the homestead to enter the Euroa Bank's vault - which he promptly robbed. While at Faithfull's Creak, Ned hosted a mock-trial for himself - convincing the various members of the "jury" that he was not the monster he was portrayed as by the news.
Parcel 11: His life at 25 years of age[]
After robbing the bank, the Gang begin to spread out the money to gain supporters from the poor and downtrodden peoples of Victoria. It is around this time that the police begin mass arresting anyone who had even the smallest ties to Kelly. This greatly enrages Kelly and furthers his desire to strike back at the police along with his nigh-obsession with having his letters published. It is also around this time that Mary leaves the Gang and flees for America.
With his wife missing and his letter purposefully left unpublished due to police intervention, Ned decides to hold up the town of Jerilderie and force the owner of its gazette to publish his letter. First, the Gang holds up the local police station before they rob the local bank and reach the publisher of the gazette. Unfortunately, the publisher flees before Ned can get him to publish the letter. Ned tries to get a bank clerk to type out the letter but discovers that the man is nigh-illiterate. When the publisher's wife finds Ned, she simply takes the letter from him and promises to have it published.
Two weeks later, the Gang returns to Jerilderie and finds that the letter has not been published. Ned breaks into the home of the publisher and demands that he publishes the letter. The publisher and his wife reveal that they gave the letter to the police. Though extremely angered and dissapointed by this, Ned leaves them alive and vows to simply write out a new copy of the letter.
Parcel 12: Conception and construction of the armour[]
Though Ned tries to write out a new copy of the Jerilderie Letter, he finds that he cannot. Instead, he writes out a history of his life (which comprises many of the pages of this volume) for his unborn daughter. Shortly after finishing this history, Ned receives a telegram from Mary (who has reached California) that his daughter has been safely born. Overjoyed, Ned hosts a massive celebration which most of his allies attend.
Shortly after this celebration, Ned decides to move the Gang into hiding at the abandoned shepherd's hut. They bring Aaron Sheritt with them though this turns out to be a mistake, as Aaron immediately sells them out to the police. Upon discovering this, Joe is devastated that his closest friend gave him up. Ned vows not to let his "mate" suffer and begins to formulate a plan to build a set of armour for Joe based on old newspapers showing the steel-clad battleships Virginia and Monitor. Over several days, Ned uses the mouldboards of farmers' plows to build a set of armour for Joe. Immediately after putting the armour on, Joe shoots himself in the head and survives without a scratch on him. After bringing a few more downtrodden Victorians into his Gang, Ned builds more sets of armour and drafts a letter declaring absolute war on the police. Joe helps write one of these letters for Aaron (hoping that his close friend will read it and cut ties with the police). Upon receiving the letter, Aaron rips it apart with the police and declares that he will shoot his former friend. This is reciprocated by Joe.
Parcel 13: His life at 26 years of age[]
Shortly after the declaration of war, Joe and Dan track down Aaron and shoot him within his home. The news of this murder makes the Commissioner send trackers alongside Hare and Nicolson (who originally snared Harry Power) to entrap Ned. Shortly after this, Ned brings the Gang to Glenrowan and begins waiting for the police after taking several hostages (including two constables). While waiting, Ned has a dream in which he frees his mother from jail.
After sabotaging the railway that the police will arrive on, Ned finds an old crippled schoolteacher wandering outside. He takes this schoolteacher as a hostage but the two begin to bond over the plays of Shakespeare and Lorra Doone. Though Joe is skeptical of the man, Ned shows him his history and the schoolteacher (seemingly enamoured by it) asks to leave to edit the manuscript. Right before the police arrive, Ned hastily scrawls out an account of how he made all of his hostages dance.
After this, the teacher (one Thomas Curnow) informs the occupants of the arriving train of Ned's sabotage and stops a massacre. Once the police arrive at the hotel that the Gang is hiding out at, they shoot at the hotel with reckless abandon. A child within is grievously injured while (despite his armour), Joe dies from being shot. Ned is also extremely injured but manages to escape the hotel. Despite this, he is shot by Curnow and captured. His capture is closely followed by Dan (and presumably Steve)'s death. While Curnow begins to obsess over Kelly's manuscript and the notion that a "dirty crook" could become a regional hero, Ned Kelly is hanged to death and (despite his wishes) buried near the jail.
See also[]
| Title | Author | Release date | Signifigance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oscar and Lucinda | Peter Carey | 1988 | Carey's previous Booker Prize-winning novel |
| Illywhacker | Peter Carey | 1985 | A novel by the same author with similar themes |
| A Clockwork Orange | Anthony Burgess | 1962 | A novel about a criminal with an unusual prose style |
| Jonathan Wild | Henry Fielding | 1743 | A novel about a legendary criminal |
| The Immortal Irishman | Timothy Egan | 2016 | A nonfiction book about an Australian-Irish outlaw |
| Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West | Cormac McCarthy | 1985 | A novel about a legendary band of outlaws with an unusual prose style |
| The Good Lord Bird | James McBride | 2013 | A novel about a legendary outlaw |
| A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | James Joyce | 1916 | A novel about the development of an Irish man |
| The Bushranger's Story | Sarah Groenewegen | 2004 | A short story about bushrangers |
| Mason & Dixon | Thomas Pynchon | 1997 | A novel set in the wilderness with an unusual prose style |
Sources[]
- Wikipedia
| Booker Prize winners | ||
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1969-1979 | ||