Portrait of Ned Kelly (The Adelaide Chronicle, via Newspapers.com)
Ned Kelly (1854-1880) was an Australian bushranger (rural outlaw), convicted criminal, and folk hero. He remains one of the most famous Australians.
Key Events:
The Fitzpatrick incident (1878): Ned Kelly goes on the run after a police officer is injured while attempting to arrest Kelly’s brother Dan in Greta, Victoria. Kelly is joined in hiding by Dan, Joe Byrne, and Steve Hart, forming the Kelly gang.
The Stringybark Creek murders (1878): The Kelly gang kills three of four policemen sent to capture them.
The Jerilderie raid (1879): The Kelly gang robs a bank in Jerilderie, New South Wales. Ned Kelly gives a bank employee the 8,000-word “Jerilderie letter,” which outlines Kelly’s grievances and motivations.
The siege of Glenrowan (1880): After Byrne murders police informant Aaron Sherritt, the Kelly gang take hostages at a hotel in Glenrowan, Victoria. During a shootout with police, the Kelly gang wear their now-iconic homemade armor. Dan Kelly, Byrne, and Hart die, but Ned Kelly is captured by police.
Trial & execution (1880): Ned Kelly is tried and convicted for one of the murders at Stringybark Creek. He is hanged at the Old Melbourne Gaol on November 11.
Learn more about Ned Kelly through historical newspapers from our archives. Explore newspaper articles, headlines, images, and other primary sources below.
Articles and Clippings about Ned Kelly
Newspaper shares one version of Dan Kelly's arrest & 1878 Fitzpatrick incident 22 Apr 1878, Mon The Age (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) Newspapers.com
Excerpt from Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick's account of the Fitzpatrick incident ("Greta Outrage") 08 Jun 1878, Sat Australasian Sketcher (Adelaide, South Australia, Australia) Newspapers.com
Kelly gang kills 3 policemen in the 1878 Stringybark Creek murders (Mansfield murders) 09 Nov 1878, Sat The Queenslander (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) Newspapers.com
Judicial summons for Kelly gang under the 1878 Felons Apprehension Act after Stringybark murders 15 Nov 1878, Fri The Corowa Free Press (Corowa, New South Wales, Australia) Newspapers.com
Ned Kelly and Dan Kelly are declared outlaws according to 1878 Felons Apprehension Act 16 Nov 1878, Sat The Age (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) Newspapers.com
Article on the Kelly gang's 1879 Jerilderie raid, including eyewitness accounts from bank employees 12 Feb 1879, Wed The Age (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) Newspapers.com
Newspaper publishes summary and excerpt from Ned Kelly's famous Jerilderie letter 18 Feb 1879, Tue The Age (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) Newspapers.com
Criticism of the police's handling of the Ned Kelly case; Constable Fitzpatrick is dismissed 05 Jun 1880, Sat The Queensland Times (Ipswich, Queensland, Australia) Newspapers.com
Kelly gang member Joe Byrne murders Aaron Sherritt, a police informant, on June 26, 1880 28 Jun 1880, Mon The Age (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) Newspapers.com
Account of the siege of Glenrowan and capture of Ned Kelly on June 28, 1880 03 Jul 1880, Sat Chronicle (Adelaide, South Australia, Australia) Newspapers.com
Account of Ned Kelly wearing armor during 1880 Glenrowan affair and his capture by police 03 Jul 1880, Sat The Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) Newspapers.com
1880 illustration of "Ned Kelly in armour" 10 Jul 1880, Sat The Illustrated Sydney News (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) Newspapers.com
"The recent Kelly outrage": An 1880 image of "the fight at Glenrowan" 10 Jul 1880, Sat The Illustrated Sydney News (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) Newspapers.com
Newspaper prints interview with Ned Kelly at Beechworth Gaol in August 1880 09 Aug 1880, Mon The Age (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) Newspapers.com
Large crowd meets in Melbourne to petition for a reprieve of Ned Kelly's death sentence 08 Nov 1880, Mon Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia) Newspapers.com
"Last scene of the Kelly drama: The criminal on the scaffold" 27 Nov 1880, Sat Australasian Sketcher (Adelaide, South Australia, Australia) Newspapers.com
Article describing the "execution of Ned Kelly the bushranger" on November 11, 1880 11 Nov 1880, Thu Saturday Journal (Adelaide, South Australia, Australia) Newspapers.com
Newspaper reports on royal commission formed to review police conduct in Kelly case 27 May 1881, Fri The Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser (Armidale, New South Wales, Australia) Newspapers.com
Editorial describing the excavation and looting of Ned Kelly's remains at Old Melbourne Gaol in 1929 16 Apr 1929, Tue The Age (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) Newspapers.com
1945 article assessing Ned Kelly's cultural impact and folk hero status in Australia 15 Nov 1945, Thu Chronicle (Adelaide, South Australia, Australia) Newspapers.com
Ned Kelly's famous green sash given to historical society in 1973 29 Jun 1973, Fri The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) Newspapers.com
Newspaper publishes copy of full-length photograph of Ned Kelly in boxing attire 05 Nov 1987, Thu The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) Newspapers.com
Historic armor of the Kelly gang reunited for exhibition at Old Melbourne Gaol in 1998 14 Nov 1998, Sat The Age (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) Newspapers.com
Original copy of Ned Kelly's Jerilderie Letter to go on display at State Library Victoria 24 Nov 2000, Fri The Age (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) Newspapers.com
Ned Kelly's remains positively identified in 2011 using DNA analysis 02 Sep 2011, Fri News-Press (Fort Myers, Florida) Newspapers.com
Ned Kelly's descendants plan final burial for his remains 03 Aug 2012, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com