Glenrowan
“After the house had been burned, Ned Kelly’s three sisters and Tom Wright were allowed an interview with him. Tom Wright, as well as the sisters, kissed the wounded man, and a brief conversation ensued, Ned Kelly having to a certain extent recovered from the exhaustion consequent of his wounds.”
The following information comes from the evidence of Henry Armstrong who had been one of the constables stationed with Aaron Sherritt the night he was murdered. It concerns the events leading up to the murder that may have played a role in Aaron’s death, and follows the narrative through the murder with the occasional detour. These are merely extracts from the evidence, rather than the evidence in its entirety in order to keep it as focused as possible on the subject of Aaron Sherritt.
The following extracts come from Superintendent Hare’s testimony during the 1881 Royal Commission. We begin with Hare’s account of the events leading up to the siege and his involvement in the early stages, including his injury. We close on Hare recounting some of his frustrations with the police that were to be working with Aaron Sherritt, as well as a brief account of a discussion with the “Diseased Stock Agent” about the armour.
Aidan Phelan discusses the challenge of working out what to keep in snd what to take out when adapting history into a narrative text.
When Kelly lay on the floor in the railway van Inspector Sadlier appealed to him to send some signal to his comrades and spare further bloodshed, but he replied, “I cannot. They will never give up, and you cannot take them alive.”
“I do not pretend that I have led a blameless life, or that one fault justifies another ; but the public in judging a case like mine should remember that the darkest life may have a bright side, and that after the worst has been said against a man he may, if he has told his story, in his own rough way, that, will perhaps lead them to reverse the bent of their thoughts against him and find as many excuses for him as he would plead for himself.”
The special correspondent of the Melbourne Daily Telegraph gives the following particulars of the man Sherrett, who was murdered by Byrne on Saturday: —
Hay Standard and Advertiser for Balranald, Wentworth, Maude…(Hay, NSW : 1871 – 1873; 1880 – 1881; 1890 – 1900), Wednesday 7 July 1880, page 6 NED KELLY INTERVIEWED. On Friday morning, by virtue of an order from the Chief Secretary, Mr. Charles Cox, the publican of Jerilderie in whose hotel the prisoners were confined when […]
The following is extracted from the 1881 Royal Commission into the police force, where the newly retired Captain Standish gave an account of his involvement in the Kelly pursuit. The extracts contain information directly relevant to the Glenrowan siege and the police that were placed to protect Aaron Sherritt.
Where did the idea for the novel originate? What makes the story of the Glenrowan siege so compelling?
Glenrowan 