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Analysis of the reportage of the day reveals Kelly’s actual last words, and explains how they were transmuted by one journalist into the catchy expression quoted as fact by many historians.
- Stuart E Dawson
- Eras
- 2016
- 13
Ned Kelly’s Last Words: “Ah, Well, I Suppose” Dr. Stuart E. Dawson ∗ (Monash University) Abstract: It has long been widely, even admiringly, held that Ned Kelly’s last words before execution were “Such is life”. This is a key part of a prevalent Kelly mythology that has been subject to little serious critique.
- The History
- Ned Kelly's Suit of Armour
- Trial and Execution
- Kelly's Death Mask
- The Jerilderie Letter
Quick facts
Ned Kelly: 1. was born sometime between December 1854 and June 1855, in Beveridge, Victoria. His precise birthdate is not known. 2. was the eldest son of eight children to John 'Red' Kelly and Ellen Quinn. 3. as a child saved another boy from drowning – the boy's family awarded him a green silk sash in recognition of his bravery. 4. was twice convicted and sentenced to prison in the 1870s, first for assault and then for receiving a stolen horse. 5. attacked Constable Fitzpatrick while he was...
How it all began
Kelly’s criminal life started early. In 1869, when he was 14, he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a Chinese man. In 1870 he was arrested again, this time for being a suspected accomplice of bushranger Harry Power. The assault charge was dismissed and the accomplice charges with Power were also dropped after witnesses could not identify Kelly. Power was also of the belief that Kelly had given him up in exchange for his freedom. It was not long before Kelly was in trouble with the law agai...
The Fitzpatrick Incident
After his release from gaol Kelly worked as timber cutter and in other labouring jobs. In April 1878, a police officer named Fitzpatrick went to the Kelly home to arrest Kelly’s brother Dan for stealing horses. Fitzpatrick was shot in the wrist by Ned Kelly, and their mother Ellen was arrested for aiding and abetting an attempted murder. Ellen was sentenced to three years' imprisonment by Judge Redmond Barry (who also sentenced Ned Kelly to death by hanging). Ned and Dan went into hiding, and...
Prior to the Glenrowan siege and Ned's ultimate capture – the Kelly gang began constructing the suits of armour from mouldboards, the thick metal parts of a farmer's plough. The suits allowed the gang to walk away unharmed from close-range shooting, but they also made the gang members – Ned in particular – seem larger, more intimidating; even ghost...
After his capture at Glenrowan Kelly was taken to Melbourne where he stood trial. He was found guilty and sentenced to execution by hanging by Judge Redmond Barry. He was hanged in the Old Melbourne Gaol on 11 November 1880. His execution was witnessed by various prison and police officials and by a number of journalists. His final words were repor...
In the 19th century, it was common for plaster 'death masks' to be made of the face and skull of executed criminals. At the time, these masks served several purposes. Firstly, death masks were used for phrenological analysis, whereby the shape of a person's head was studied to determine their character traits. Secondly, they were often put on displ...
There's no denying that Ned Kelly was a notorious criminal, feared around Victoria and beyond as a robber and murderer. However, while it is not known how many sympathisers Kelly had in his day, over time a national myth emerged that pitched Kelly as a victim of police harassment and an underdog with the courage to challenge the authorities. This p...
Jan 30, 2019 · Composer Luke Styles on his opera that casts the bushranger in a new light. Such is life. Those are Ned Kelly’s widely reported final words, uttered before being executed in 1880 at the age of 25 for murdering a constable. But recorded that, as the hangman sought to restrain him, the Irish-Australian bushranger actually plumped for the less ...
Sep 22, 2003 · An unkempt, enjoyable retelling of the life story of an Australian legend, Ned Kelly splices the folk hero martyrdom of Braveheart with the bloody, roguish outlawry of Walter Hill's Jesse James...
Nov 10, 2022 · It was 10am on November 11, 1880 – 142 years ago – when 25-year-old Ned Kelly uttered his final words before being hanged in Melbourne jail.
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On 11 November, Kelly, aged 25, mounted the gallows inside the Old Melbourne Gaol. Moments before he was executed, Kelly reportedly uttered his famous last words: "Such is life". A complicated legacy
