Edward Kelly gives statement of his murders of Sargeant Kennedy and others and makes other threats Edward Kelly gives statement of his murders of Sargeant Kennedy and others and makes other threats
Public Record Office Victoria
Public Record Office Victoria (State Archives of Victoria, Australia)
North Melbourne, Australia
Some of the hostages held at Younghusbands station by the Kelly Gang during their robbery of the National Bank in Euroa on 9 December 1878 reported witnessing Joe Byrne, one of the Gangs members, at work on a long letter. The letter seems to have been prompted by the reports of Mr Donald Cameron MLAs criticisms of the progress of the police hunt for the gang in Parliament on 14 November of that year. After the robbery, two copies of the letter were posted, one to Cameron, the other to Superintendent John Sadleir, the man in charge of the police in the north-east district. The note on this copy of the letter indicates that it was believed that at least one of the letters was posted in Glenrowan, a few days after the Euroa robbery. Cameron received his copy three days later on 17 December. Meanwhile, Chief Commissioner Standish had seen Sadleirs copy of the letter and had sent atelegramadvising against releasing it to the press for publishing. Reporters were allowed to read the letter and the papers on 18 December contained more or less full summaries of its content. The copy of the letter reproduced below seems to have been made afterwards from Camerons copy of the letter. Comparison with one of the two letters known to be written byByrnereveals the handwriting is not a close match, so it is not an original. There are two sets of annotations. One, in pencil, on the first page of the letter proper, seems to be an instruction where to file the letter in the 1880 volume of correspondence of the Chief Secretarys Department. The second set of annotations in red ink indicate the etter was registered with this corespondence on 1 November 1884, a considerable time after Kellys death. Why the letter was registered in 1880 rather than in 1878 when the original was written is not clear, but it is obvious that the letter was no routine matter.
- Title: Edward Kelly gives statement of his murders of Sargeant Kennedy and others and makes other threats Edward Kelly gives statement of his murders of Sargeant Kennedy and others and makes other threats
- Creator: Public Record Office Victoria, Public Record Office Victoria
- Provenance: VPRS 4966 UNIT 1 ITEM 3 RECORD 1, VPRS 4966 UNIT 1 ITEM 3 RECORD 1
- Transcript:[T12640 7]outside and kept him there until Skillion and Ryan came with horses which Dan sold that night the trooper left and invented some scheme to say he got shot which any man can see it is impossible for him to have been shot. He told Dan to clear out that Sergeant Steel or Detective Brown would be there before morning as Straughan was over the Murray trying to get up a case against Dan and the Lloyds as the Germans over the Murray would swear to any one, and they will tag you guilty or not. Next day Skillion, Williamson and Mrs. Kelly with an infant were taken and thrown into prison and were six months awaiting trial and no bail allowed, and was convicted on the evidence of the meanest man that ever the sun shone on I have been told by Police that he is hardly ever sober also between him and his father they sold his sister to a chinaman but he seems a strapping & rather genteel looking young man & more fit to be a starcher to a laundry than a trooper, but to a keen observer he has the wrong appearance to have anything like a clear conscience or a manly heart The deceit is too plain to be seen in the white cabbage-hearted looking face. I heard nothing of this transaction until very close on the trial I being then over 400 miles fromHide TranscriptShow Transcript
Additional Items
Get the app
Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more
