Below you can see a concise timeline of what occurred during the Glenrowan Siege and some of the events surrounding it.
26 June, 1880: Saturday
Afternoon – Aaron Sherritt rides to Chiltern to enquire after some of his mother-in-law’s cattle that had been impounded.
Evening – The Kelly Gang begin their Glenrowan campaign. Ned and Steve head to Glenrowan while Joe and Dan head to Sebastopol.
~6:00pm – Joe Byrne and Dan Kelly capture Anton Wick and force him to lure Aaron Sherritt to the back door of his hut. When Sherritt opens the door he is shot twice by Byrne. The outlaws remain at the hut in an attempt to draw out the police hiding in Sherritt’s bedroom.
9:00pm – Joe and Dan leave the Sherritt hut, having been unsuccessful in their attempts to flush out the police. Meanwhile, Ned and Steve are in Glenrowan attempting to dismantle a portion of the railroad but are unsuccessful. They bail up a group of contractors camped nearby in tents and attempt to make them do the work, but discover that they are employed working on the gravel under and around the track, and do not have the tools or skills to do as instructed.
Midnight – Ned and Steve set about gathering more prisoners, including Ann Jones and her daughter Jane, and the Stanistreet family. Stanistreet, the stationmaster, is ordered to instruct the contractors to pull up the train line, but he does not know how and suggests bailing up the platelayers. The gatehouse, where the Stanistreets live, becomes the base of operations while the outlaws attempt to get the track dismantled.
27 June, 1880: Sunday
1:00am – Ned Kelly bails up the local platelayers, Reardon and Sullivan.
3:00am – The platelayers and gravel contractors are forced to sabotage the railway. They are afterwards taken back to the stationmaster’s residence.
5:00am – Joe and Dan arrive in Glenrowan. They pass McDonnell’s Tavern to the gatehouse.
~6:00am – Ned Kelly divides the prisoners, placing the men in the Glenrowan Inn and the women and children in the gatehouse in the charge of Steve Hart.
11:00am – More prisoners are added to the number, including the Curnows and David Mortimer. Curnow observes the tail end of Ned’s verbal assault on a teenage boy named Delaney.
12:00pm – Constable Armstrong heads into Beechworth on a commandeered horse to deliver the news of the murder of Aaron Sherritt to Detective Ward.
Midday – To keep the prisoners entertained, sports and dancing are held at the Glenrowan Inn.
Meanwhile, Detective Ward attempts to notify the police in Benalla of Sherritt’s murder but issues with the line mean he instead opts to notify Captain Standish at the Melbourne Club.
2:30pm – Superintendent Hare first receives information that Sherritt has been murdered and telegraphs Captain Standish in an effort to get Sub-Inspector O’Connor and his native police (recently relieved of duty) back so they can follow the trail while it’s fresh.
4:30pm – Captain Standish receives the telegrams from Hare. He sends a letter to Sub-Inspector O’Connor by cab and organises a special train to depart from Spencer Street.
7:00pm – Sub-Inspector O’Connor receives a letter from Captain Standish asking for him to return to Beechworth while preparing to return to Queensland. He begrudgingly accepts.
9:00pm – Ned Kelly and Joe Byrne take a small group to capture Constable Bracken. Steve Hart crosses to the inn with the women and children. Once Bracken is made prisoner Ned allows Thomas Curnow to take his family home.
At the same time, the special train arranged by Captain Standish departs from Spencer Street Railway Station, Melbourne. It consists of an engine, first class carriage and a guard van. Its occupants are a team of journalists who have been assigned to cover the Kelly pursuit.
10:00pm – O’Connor and his trackers, wife and sister-in-law are collected from Essendon by the special train. They continue towards Benalla.
~10:00-10:30pm – Ned and company return to the inn. Steve Hart is sent back to the gatehouse to keep an eye on Stanistreet and look out for the train.
More festivities are held in the Glenrowan Inn to keep the prisoners occupied.
~10:30pm – The engine of the special train is badly damaged when it smashes through an iron railway gate that had been left open across the tracks. A lamp and footplate are shorn off, and the brake mechanism is badly impaired.
The special train stops at Seymour. The occupants get out for coffee while the brakes are hastily repaired.
28 June, 1880: Monday
12:00am – Dan Kelly gives the prisoners permission to leave but they are detained by Ann Jones for Ned to give a parting speech.
~2:00am – The pilot engine is flagged down by Thomas Curnow, who is using a candle and his sister’s red scarf as a makeshift danger signal. He warns the crew of the the pilot engine of the sabotaged track but refuses to stay and elaborate.
The police special pulls up behind the pilot engine. Hare is informed of the sabotage and the immediate area is searched before Hare jumps onto the pilot engine and rides it into Glenrowan.
Joe Byrne notifies Ned Kelly that the train is arriving. The outlaws prepare to attack. Constable Bracken uses the opportunity to steal the front door key and escape to warn Hare of the presence of the outlaws.
The police train arrives at Glenrowan station. Hare visits Mrs. Stanistreet who informs him that her husband has been taken prisoner by the gang and taken to the Glenrowan Inn. When Hare returns to the train platform, he is informed by Constable Bracken that the gang are in Jones’s inn.
Hare leads his men to the yard in front of the inn, and immediately fighting breaks out. Hare is shot in the wrist in the opening salvo.
Constable Bracken commandeers a horse and rides to Wangaratta to inform Sergeant Steele of the battle.
~3:00am – After fainting from loss of blood, Superintendent Hare departs for Benalla on the special train, which accidentally leaves behind the civilians.
The outlaws, out of ammunition, retreat to the back of the inn. Dan and Steve resume firing from inside, later joined by Joe, while Ned escapes. Ned passes out due to blood loss from injuries in his left arm and foot around 100 yards from the inn.
When Hare reaches Benalla he if given medical treatment and raises the alarm about what is happening in Glenrowan.
5:00am – Reinforcements from Wangaratta arrive, led by Sergeant Steele.
5:10am – Reinforcements from Benalla arrive, led by Superintendent Sadleir.
~5:30am – Some time between 5:00 and 6:00 in the morning Joe Byrne is shot dead while at the bar drinking.
7:00am – Ned Kelly is captured after a direct confrontation with police. He emerges from the bush behind the police lines and is brought down by Sergeant Steele, who shoots him in the knee and groin.
~8:00am – The train line is repaired.
9:00am – Reinforcements from Beechworth arrive.
10:00am – The prisoners are allowed to leave. They are forced to lay on the ground and be inspected before they are allowed to depart. The McAuliffes are identified in the group and arrested as sympathisers.
12:00pm – Father Gibney arrives by train and gives Ned Kelly the last rites.
Around this time Kelly sympathisers begin to arrive in Glenrowan, including the Kelly sisters. Maggie Skillion refuses to assist the police in trying to bring Dan Kelly and Steve Hart out of the inn.
1:00pm – The last known shots are fired from the inn.
3:00pm – Senior Constable Johnston sets fire to the Glenrowan Inn. Father Gibney rushes in to find and rescue any survivors trapped inside. He is followed by several policemen. The corpse of Byrne is retrieved as is Martin Cherry who dies shortly after.
5:00pm – Standish arrives in Glenrowan to learn what is happening from Sadleir and take control if necessary.
The burnt bodies of Dan Kelly and Steve Hart are raked from the ashes of the inn once the fire has byrnt itself out. The remains are viewed by the relatives and handed over to the families by Superintendent Sadleir.
Ned is conveyed to Benalla by train with the bodies of Byrne and Cherry. He is taken to the lock up. That evening the artist Julian Ashton is allowed into the cell with Joe’s body to sketch it.
Glenrowan 