HIS 9 - Elective - Heroes and Villains: Ned Kelly

Excellent resource produced by the State Library of Victoria on Ned Kelly's life.

Ned Kelly was only seen as a villain by the upper classes. His sympathisers in the lower classes were treated very badly, being held for months on end without charges or trial.
The writer believes Ned Kelly was a hero because "he always had a belief that the social inequalities of his days should be righted. He became caught up in a series of events over which he had little control. Towards the end he was no longer just fighting for his beliefs, he was fighting for his life, and the lives of his friends."

More than 130 years after he was hanged, Australia's most notorious outlaw is being buried, as old tensions resurface about what he really means to the country.

To many Australians, Ned Kelly, the son of poor Irish Catholics, was a heroic anti-establishment figure who fought corrupt British colonists in the 19th Century.

To others, he was a vicious thug who murdered three police officers.

The National Museum of Australia holds publican John Hanlon’s transcription of this letter.
‘I am a Widow’s Son, outlawed and my orders must be obeyed’. With these chilling words bushranger Ned Kelly ended the Jerilderie letter, a detailed written justification of his actions in the year before his death.