Now dilapidated, Ned Kelly grew up in this home
built by his father in the 1850s near Melbourne.
The Kelly family gradually moved away from the
growing city to places like Avenel, and Lurg
(near Greta) to escape increasing police
attention.
The later Kelly homes at Avenel and Lurg have
vanished completely.
Early life
John "Red" Kelly, the father of Ned Kelly, was convicted in Ireland and transported to Van Diemen's
Land.
There is uncertainty surrounding "Red's" conviction and, as most of Ireland's court records were destroyed during the Irish Civil War, it is unlikely to be resolved. Jones claims that 'Red' stole two
pigs belonging to Coloney. Brown suggested 'Red' attempted to shoot an Irish landlord. Another claims 'Red' stole two pigs, which were the property of a Mr. Quainy. According to Jones, 'Red' was
an informer, but again this claim is contested. Whatever his crime, 'Red' was sentenced to seven
years of penal servitude and transported to Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) and arrived in 1843.
After his release in 1848, Red moved to Victoria in 1849 and found work in Beveridge at the farm of James Quinn. Red Kelly, aged 30, married Quinn's daughter Ellen, then 18. Their first child died early,
but Ellen then gave birth to a daughter, Annie, in 1853. In all they had eight children.
Their first son, Edward (Ned) Kelly, was born in Beveridge, Victoria just north of Melbourne in 1855.
The exact date is unknown; various dates have been proposed, but there is no general agreement.
Ned was baptized by Augustinian priest Charles O'Hea. As a boy, he attended school and risked his life
to save another boy, Richard Shelton, who was drowning. As a reward he was given a green sash by
the boy's family, which he wore under his armour during his final showdown with police in 1880.
The Kellys were always suspected of cattle or horse stealing, though they were never convicted. 'Red' Kelly was arrested when he killed and skinned a calf, which the police said belonged to a neighbour. He was found not guilty of theft, but guilty of having removed the brand from the skin and fined 25 pounds or six months with hard labour. Not having money to pay the fine Red went to Kilmore gaol. The saga surrounding Red, and his treatment by the police, remained with Ned.
Red Kelly died at Avenel Vic on 27 December 1866 when Ned was only eleven and a half (as recorded
by Ned on death certificate), and according to custom, he was forced to leave school to become head of the family. It was at this time, that the Kelly family moved to the Glenrowan area of Victoria, which
to this day is known as Kelly Country. Ned grew up in poverty in some of the harshest conditions in Australia, and folk tales tell of his sleeping on the ground in the bush during the Victorian winter.
In all, 18 charges were brought against members of Ned's immediate family before he was declared an outlaw, while only half that number resulted in guilty verdicts. This is a highly unusual ratio for the time, and is one of the reasons that has caused many to posit that Ned's family was unfairly targeted from the time they moved to North-East Victoria. Perhaps the move was necessary because of Ellen's squabbles with family members and her appearances in court over family disputes.[1] O'Brien, (1999) however argued that Victoria's colonial policing in those days had nothing to do with winning a conviction, rather the determinant of one's criminality was the arrest.[2] Further, O'Brien argued, using the 'Statistics of Victoria' crime figures that the region's or family's or national criminality was determined not by individual arrests, but rather by the total number of arrests.[3]
