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

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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:
information to the Police of me & my Brothers presence in the Stringy bark I have been told so since three parties of Police one under Serg Kennedy one under S. Const Straughn & the other under Seg Steel Thirteen in number Where to meet at Stringy Bark to search for me Serg Kennedys Party hobbled there horses in the Police Barrack ? Mansfield they would not do it in the day time for fear people would take notice ? me of it they sneaked out of the Town before day light disguised as diggers on a prospecting tour & camped at Stringy Bark that night Some of the Party said they did not intend to bring one in alive which I can prove Fitzpatrick I believe will swear an oath that they came to shoot me not to arrest me Constable Lonigan in particular bid his friends good bye Several on leaving Violet Town and he said he might never come back again ned Kelly was to be shot he was the man that would shoot him the above information gathered since the first encounter with the police I could have passed by members of the Police Force as well as Civilians ? encounter with the Police I came back from where I was at the time previous to the encounter with Fitzpatrick I would have called witnesses to have proved where I was not tried for this charge they would not allow me to call them Fitzpatrick would have came himself if I had have been
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