Bushranger Ned Kelly's life and crimes

A TIMELINE of events in the life of famous Australian bushranger Ned Kelly.

A TIMELINE of events in the life of famous Australian bushranger Ned Kelly.

June 1855 - Australian bushranger Ned Kelly was born at Beveridge, Victoria, to Irish parents John "Red" and Ellen Kelly (nee Quinn).

December 1866 - Kelly left school after his father died to assist grandfather James Quinn with the family cattle runs in northern Victoria. The Kellys and Quinns were often in trouble with police over cattle and horse theft, but were never found guilty.

1869 – Kelly,14, was arrested and served seven weeks in jail for the alleged assault of a Chinese pig farmer. It was also alleged Kelly was an assistant to thief-turned-bushranger Harry Power, although police found no evidence to prove a connection to Power’s crimes.

1870 - Kelly was jailed for three years after assaulting a hawker and being in possession of a stolen horse. He claimed to have borrowed the horse from Isaiah "Wild" Wright and did not know it was stolen.

1878 - Angered by laws he believed victimised the poor, Kelly allegedly shot Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick in the wrist after becoming too friendly with his sister Kate. Kelly’s mother Ellen was sent to prison for three years after Fitzpatrick gave an inaccurate report.

Fearing the police wouldn’t believe their account of the events, Kelly went into hiding at Stringybark Creek with his brother Dan. A shoot-out began between the brothers and police and as a result three policemen were killed.

After the shootings the Victorian Government declared the outlaw of the gang and offered 500 pounds for each of the gang members, alive or dead.

A month after the shootings the Kelly gang committed major robberies of National Bank branches at Euroa and Jerilderie. They held police and civilians hostage while stealing all money from the bank's vault. At the Jerilderie robbery Kelly wrote the famous letter telling his side of the story including the ill treatment of his family and the Irish Catholics by police.

1879 - The Kelly gang created their famous armour made from metal plates.

June 26, 1880 – The gang’s outlaw status expired and Aaron Sherritt, a friend-turned-police informer, was shot dead by the group.

The gang, who had since held 70 people hostage at the Glenrowan Inn, became aware a train transporting police to their location was on its way. Kelly ordered the tracks to be ripped up to cause a derailment. The attempt failed after a hostage escaped and alerted the authorities.

June 28, 1880 - A shoot-out erupted between police and the gang that continued for almost half a day. It left Kelly seriously wounded, and killed all other members of his gang..

November 11, 1980 - Ned Kelly was hanged at Old Melbourne Gaol. Newspapers reported his last words to be, “Such is life.”