Kelly, Kate (1862–1898)

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Kelly, Kate (1862–1898)

Sister of bushranger Ned Kelly, and a supporter of the Kelly gang. Born in 1862; daughter of John (an Irish ex-convict) and Ellen (Quinn) Kelly; married, in 1888; no children.

Kate Kelly gained her place in Australian folklore more by association than by deed. Her brothers, Dan and Ned Kelly, along with two other men outside the Kelly family, formed one of the last of Australia's notorious bushranging gangs.

In 1866, following the death of the Kelly patriarch John "Red" Kelly (an outlaw in his own right), the family became residents of northeastern Victoria, between Greta and Glenrowan, where they joined the ranks of the rural poor. The Kelly boys, suspected at the time of stealing cattle and other minor crimes, were also frequently persecuted by the police. In April 1878, an officer by the name of Fitzpatrick (later dismissed from the police force) went to the Kelly shanty to arrest Dan for stealing horses. Although what really happened that day was never determined, Fitzpatrick claimed he had been shot by Ned, who reportedly was not even home at the time. Dan escaped to a hideout where he was later joined by Ned, so it was the boys' mother Ellen Kelly who was arrested and sentenced to three years of hard labor for taking part in the alleged murder attempt.

In retaliation for the conviction of their mother, the Kelly brothers, with accomplices Joe Byrne, Steve Hart, and Tom Lloyd, Jr. (who was never identified as a member of the Kelly gang), raided a police camp at Stringybark Creek and killed three policemen. A third officer escaped and would later testify at Ned's trial. The gang avoided capture for close to two years, largely due to a "bush telegraph" operated by sympathizers. During that time, they committed bank robberies in Euroa and in Jerilderie, New South Wales. The climax of their activities occurred in June 1880, when the Kellys, Hart, and Byrne, ensconced in a hotel in Glenrowan, planned to derail a special police train from Melbourne. The train crew, however, was warned in advance of the attack by the local schoolmaster. In the ensuing battle, the police killed Dan Kelly, Hart, and Byrne in the hotel, and Ned Kelly, dressed in metal armor, was wounded and captured. In October 1880, he was tried and convicted for one of the Stringybark Creek murders. Sentenced to death, he was executed on November 11, 1880, ending what to the minds of many was a reign of terror. However, 32,000 people petitioned to spare Kelly's life, and since his execution the Kelly legend in Australian folklore has grown in song, verse, prose, and film.

Kate Kelly never participated in any criminal activities, although she was a staunch defender of the Kelly gang, particularly her brother Ned. She was present at the siege of Glenrowan and subsequently pleaded Ned's case before the governor of Victoria and before a theater audience in Melbourne on the night of his execution. After the release of her mother in 1881 and before her marriage in 1888, Kate toured as an equestrian and worked on a central western station in north South Wales. She drowned in 1898. With the rest of the Kelly gang, Kate lives on in Australian folklore. She is the subject of Frank Hatherley's play Ned Kelly's Sister's Travelling Circus (later titled Kate Kelly's Roadshow), first performed in 1980, and Jean Bedford 's novel, Sister Kate, published in 1982.

sources:

Wilde, William H., Joy Hooton, and Barry Andrews. The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Australia, 1985.