Message #88715

[Bianca]

The Fitzpatrick Incident



Ned's mother, Ellen, was now married to a Californian, named George King, with whom she had three children. He, Ned and Dan became involved in a cattle rustling operation.

On the 15 April 1878, Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick arrived at Benalla suffering from 'wounds' to his left wrist. He claimed that he was attacked by Ned, Dan, Ellen, their associate, Bricky Williamson and Ned's brother-in-law, Bill Skillion. Fitzpatrick claimed that all except Ellen were armed with revolvers. Williamson and Skillion were arrested. Ned and Dan were nowhere to be found, but Ellen was taken into custody along with her baby, Alice. She was still in prison at the time of Ned's execution. (Ellen would outlive her most famous sons by decades and die on 27 March 1923).

The Kellys claimed that Fitzpatrick came into their house, to question Dan over a cattle duffing incident. While there, he propositioned Dan's young sister Kate. The men and their mother defended the girl by knocking Fitzpatrick to the ground. They then bandaged his injured wrist, and he had left saying that no real harm had been done. No guns, they claimed, were used during the incident, and Ned was not involved since he was away in New South Wales. However, the belief that Ned was in New South Wales is still disputed.

The fact that Fitzpatrick was later dismissed from the force for drunkenness and mixing with the wrong sort of people has led most historians to accept the Kellys' version of events.