Ned Kelly tells his own version of what happened at Glenrowan in a letter from the condemned cell at Melbourne Gaol.
Month: Jul 2021
A very wide circle will learn with deep regret of the death of Mr. Hare, P.M., which occurred at Rupertswood, Sunbury, the country residence of Sir William Clarke, yesterday afternoon. Some three months ago Mr. Hare was seized with an attack of diabetes, and until recently he was under special treatment at Mr. T. N. Fitzgerald’s private hospital, where he went through a successful operation, and recovered sufficiently to seek a change at Rupertswood.
The whole of the members of the gang were very jolly, and Ned told us that they had come there to settle the black trackers, and that he would be on the spot when the train ran over the culvert, and would shoot all who were not killed. We knew we could do nothing, and therefore did not take any steps to warn those in the train of the danger. Every member of the gang was then sober. They showed us their armor, and seemed to think that the police could do them no harm. At half-past two on Monday morning Ned Kelly said something to the effect that he did not think the special train was coming, and I then asked him if we could go home. He said ‘Yes,’ and I thanked him.
I wish to place before you the facts of my case, which have never been placed in their true light. As represented, I took up arms in 1878 for the purpose of shooting the police, but six months elapsed between the shooting of Constable Fitzpatrick on the 13th of April and the Stringy-bark tragedy on the 26th of October, 1878, and there neither was robbery nor any other offence reported as done by me or my companions.
Glenrowan 