Kelly's first govenor letter Kelly's first govenor letter

Public Record Office Victoria

Public Record Office Victoria (State Archives of Victoria, Australia)
North Melbourne, Australia

Addressed to His Excellency the Governor, Ned dictated this seven-page letter to Warden William Buck from his prison cell. The letter is one of three that Ned dictated whilst incarcerated and brings forth his views on various incidents, most notably the Fitzpatrick shooting, the Stringy Bark Creek murders and the discrepancies in McIntyres reports. Once the letter was completed it was forwarded to Sheriff Rede by J. B. Castieau the gaols governor. The annotations made along the left-hand side of the letter acknowledge that the letter was received after the Executive Council meeting and was then forwarded to the Premier Graham Berry. The letter did little to sway the opinion of the Executive Council, and the date of 11 November was set for his execution

Details

Title: Kelly's first govenor letter Kelly's first govenor letter
Creator: Public Record Office Victoria, Public Record Office Victoria
Date Created: 1880-11-03
Provenance: VPRS 4966 P0 UNIT 2 ITEM 4 RECORD 11, VPRS 4966 P0 UNIT 2 ITEM 4 RECORD 11
Transcript:
By direction referred to the Govt. Minister of Justice [?] 4.11.80 Received afer the date of the Executive Council and was forwarded to His Excellency the Govenor Graham Berry 3/11/80 His Excellancy the Governor 3 nov 1880I have taken the liberty to adress you in reference to my case as it is now drawing to a close The first thing Iwish to draw your attention to is the warrant issued for me on suspicion of Horsestealing as they were produced as evidence against me in the Court & likely to prejudice the Jury on behalf of my Character it was merely a warrant for my apprehension on Suspicion of Horsestealing had I have been apprehended they could not possibly have procurred a conviction the second thing is the warrant issued for the shooting with intent to murder Constable Fitzpatrick, Cons. Fitzpatrick swor that I had no intention of shooting him that we were intimate friends according to his sworn evidence I neither murdered him nor had any intention Therefore I think there must have been a mistake in granting a warrant on this charge and when this charge was preffered against me it was greatly to prejudice the jury and as I did not actually committ that deed & as there was no murder committed and no intention of doing such & therefore my mother William Skillion & William Williamson could not be guilty of aiding & abetting nine repectable witnesses can prove that Mr Skillion was not within miles of the place at the time I had witnesses at the Court only the feeling was so strong with the Police Force that they were afraid of being
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