THE NOTORIOUS NED KELLY
Ned Kelly is the most famous of all Australian bushrangers. He was born in the Glenrowan area in 1855 and at age 15 had his first altercation with the police. Although not convicted, he was first charged with helping bushranger Harry Power, during robberies.
He was sentenced to 6 months hard labour and began this before his 16th birthday. After his release, he got a job working in a sawmill and stayed out of trouble for a time. He developed a reputation as a trick rider and boxer during this time, and seemed to have learned his lesson well.
Over the next few years the police tried many times to gain evidence on Kelly to get him behind bars for various crimes they thought he was involved in until, on the 20th June, 1880, Kelly with a gang comprising his brother and others, attacked Glenrowan, cutting the telegraph wires and forcing railway workers to rip up the line. In the ensuing gun battle with police Kelly was shot in the knee and captured. He was hung in Melbourne on November the 11th for his crimes. Some 4,000 Melbourne people attended the hanging.
The suit of armour which Kelly designed to protect himself in running gun battles with police is now a part of Australian folk lore. It comprised an iron helmet, something like an inverted bucket, with a slit for the eyes to see through.
A statue of Ned Kelly wearing his famous armour can be found in the town of Glenrowan and a cell at the Beechworth prison is converted as it would have been during his incarceration there.
Ned Kelly is an integral part of Australian folklore and expressions like “As bold as Ned Kelly” have become part of the language.
(Read more about Ned Kelly at http://en.wikipedia.org)
WEEK 4 COLOURING IN
Ned Kelly
Bushrangers
Oh give me a home
That don’t feel it’s on loan
So the wife don’t keep groanin’ all day
With a big swimmin’ pool
Or one that’s close to school
Then the kids won’t keep runnin’ away.
Help, help me today…
‘Cause the neighbour’s complainin’ again…
Now the plumbin’ has burst
It just can’t get much worse
Spoke too soon, the dog’s gone down the drain.
So I grabbed a big torch
Took a snooze on the porch
Not a knowin’ the things I should fear…
In my lovely black vest
Was a big Redback nest
And a spider went ‘n’ climbed in my ear.
Help, help me today…
‘cause the neighbour’s complainin’ again…
Now the gas pipe has burst
It just can’t get much worse
Spoke too soon, the cat’s gone down the drain.
Get me out before I go INSANE!
I called “L J Hooker”
They found developers
That would love all the land I had here…
No more neighbours complain
It don’t flood when it rains, ‘n
Our new house price goes up every year!
Sacred Heart Mosman thanks LJ Hooker, Mosman and Neutral Bay for their constant support and generosity.
