Into Melbourne

We arrived in Melbourne late at night so I will continue with cultural lore.

Australia has a legendary hero--Ned Kelly whose story epitomizes many of the poor settlers who came with the convict wave and were blocked from upward mobility by squatters and profiteers that manipulated the legal system. His father emigrated as a convict, married, fathered 8 children and died when Ned was 14 leaving no resources. As the oldest boy, Ned needed to help support the family. He got odd jobs and came to the attention of frontier justice when he stole a horse at age 16. He was given 6 months hard punishment: public flogging. At age 22 he was arrested for disorderly conduct and flogged almost to death. At age 23 he became an outlaw because it is alleged that he shot a warrant server in the hand. The stories of various witnesses did not support the allegation but the judge decided he was guilty. Ned and his brother fled and were joined by 2 friends. A posse comes after them and in the ensuing gunfight two lawmen are killed. For the next 3 years Ned and his gang survived by eluding the police and robbing rich station masters --distributing money to poor families. Public opinion turned against the police. They felt Ned was a victim of abusive power and unfair laws which many of them had faced. The police finally caught up with him in a famous shoot out when he faced 23 lawmen. He made armor using plough moldboards and shot many of them before he is taken prisoner. He is hanged at the age of 25. Several movies have been made about Ned Kelly.Read more