‘Joe Byrne was physically the finest, and morally the least objectionable member of the gang, and he carried the brains of the entire party. Tall, straight, good looking, fairly well educated, and certainly clever, he might have had an honourable and successful career but for the bias towards crime, or the fascination of adventure, that … Continue reading The Finest of the Four
If life as an outlaw wasn’t hard enough, on top of this were the health issues Ned was also dealing with. While being far removed from the comforts of life inside the law, Ned was suffering from sciatica, a chronic condition caused by damage to the sciatic nerve, which would have left him with considerable … Continue reading The Health of Ned Kelly
The term bushranger is defined as being ‘an outlaw living in the bush’, or in America, ‘a person who has broken the law, especially one who remains at large or is a fugitive,’ with both of these definitions relevant to Joe’s situation. Living outside the law, Joe had been stripped of the right to live … Continue reading The Bushranger
“My men are in rags and must be fed.” On the 2nd of November 1878, a week after the tragedy at Stringybark Creek, the Kelly Gang, soaking wet and thoroughly exhausted, called at the Victoria Hotel in Everton. According to Mary Vandenberg, she had just closed up for the night and was going to bed … Continue reading A Plate of Stew
In the winter of 1879, the gang retreated into the Buffalo Ranges where they lived in a hut above the snowline. When interviewed after his capture, Ned told a reporter ‘they had been amongst snow’ and at times ‘had to clear several feet of snow off a hut they lived in to prevent it from … Continue reading A Hut in the Ranges
While Anne Jane Sherritt was riding back to Sheepstation Creek on the night of the 24th May in 1880, she called in at the Byrne house. While she was there Joe and Dan came to the house, with “each of them leading a horse and riding another”. She further described that “Mrs Byrne came out” … Continue reading The Kelly Gang in Sebastopol
Constable Phillips, the same man who overheard Joe telling Ned, “I think my leg is broke”, gives harrowing insight into the extent of the bullet wound in Joe’s calf. "I examined Joe Byrne’s body at the watchhouse, Benalla, on the 29th June 1880, in the presence of Constable Falkiner and Dr. Nicholson, of Benalla, and … Continue reading The Examination of Joe Byrne’s Body
"I always said this bloody armour would bring us to grief." The armour was never Joe’s idea and nor did he like it. This is evident in the exasperated words he declared to Ned at Glenrowan. “This bloody armour” are not the words of a man who had put forward the idea of mouldboard armour, … Continue reading This Bloody Armour
As the gang were short of funds during the winter of 1879, Ned considered the possibility of robbing government premises which handled money. In response to this, Joe asked his brother Paddy to find out how much money was carried in the El Dorado Post Office. Paddy enlisted the help of Jack Sherritt and was … Continue reading The El Dorado Savings Bank
According to a report from December 1878, Joe was seen playing billiards in Wangaratta by a man who knew him. 'I saw a resident of Wangaratta today who is quite positive, from what he heard at the time, that Joseph Byrne, one of the gang, was in a public billiard-room in that township one evening … Continue reading The Billiard Playing Bushranger
An Outlaw’s Journal 