After the Jerilderie raid, Joe and Dan called at ‘Lord Byron’s’, a shanty in Chiltern owned by Martin Byron and his wife Ellen Byron née Salisbury, an old sweetheart of Joe’s. The “miserable and ragged” outlaws were greatly “in want of food” and Ellen ushered the pair inside, allowing them to warm themselves by the fire while she prepared them both a meal. After they had eaten, Joe gave Ellen a letter he had written for his mother, which she promised to deliver, only it would first be handed to Archibald Batchelor, the Byrnes neighbour, as Ellen was afraid of Margret. Before the pair left the shanty, Ellen gave her old sweetheart “a lot of food” and other provisions to take with them.
Ellen regularly supplied Joe with provisions, as confirmed by Anne Sherritt during her evidence at the Royal Commission and in September 1879, James Wallace reported to Detective Ward that there was a person in Chiltern who “knows where Joe Byrne can be seen.” This “person” would have undoubtedly been Martin or Ellen.
An Outlaw’s Journal 