At 2.30 on the afternoon of the Euroa bank robbery, Joe stood outside the storeroom, watching as Ned, Dan and Steve headed off in the direction of the township. He was dressed in his new tweeds, with a double-barrelled shotgun clutched in his hand, a brace of revolvers in his belt and two rifles within … Continue reading The Storeroom at Faithfull’s Creek
In early 1879, Detective Ward received word that the Kelly Gang had been spotted at Gundowring, north of Bright, by a friend of Joe's named Ah Man. According to Ward, "He told me that he saw the four outlaws at Gundowring. I asked him how he knew they were the outlaws. He said he knew … Continue reading A Sighting by Ah Man
For the past three weeks we have been camped up in the Warby Ranges, with a moss eaten cave becoming our home. The weather up here is nothing like it is down among the plains. The winds that flog the mountain side are unrelenting in their torment and not a day goes by when a … Continue reading Sardines and Salted Beef
After the tragedy of April 1878, Joe joined the Kelly brothers in making whisky at Bullock Creek in the Wombat Ranges. Previous to this, he had aided them in their sluicing enterprise, with Ned asserting it had been making them ‘good wages.’ However, now, more than ever, even more money was needed, and the young … Continue reading Sluicing for Gold
‘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
“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
During the harsh winter of 1879, as desperate for money as they were for warmth and shelter, the Kelly Gang turned their attention toward another robbery. Their bank of choice on this occasion was the Oxley bank. However, after careful planning by Joe and scouting of the bank by trusted sympathisers, the plan was discarded, … Continue reading The Planned Robbery of the Oxley Bank
Q1 Anita Condon – I love reading your writing, research and posts. What made you start on this journey? A – Thank you Anita, I appreciate your support and I’m glad that the question you posed allows me explain how An Outlaw’s Journal came about. For a number of years, I had toyed with the … Continue reading Questions and Answers (June 2020)
An Outlaw’s Journal 