~ Regarding Australia Day                 As there is much debate about what are Australian values,                        we should not forget the roots of Australia Day was established by the Australian Natives Association 1871               Also, it was E J Gorman, Ned Kelly's immediate neighbor and brother of school friend Patrick Gorman-   EJ   was a foundation member and chairman of the Australian Federation League at Berrigan branch NSW that with support from ANA would later spearhead the move for Federation.              ANA rose to support Native born Australians who felt de- valued and marginalised by the British autocracy in their own land. As a group,       ANA was to bring change towards a more egalitarian society that honoured Australian-ness. Like many native born Australians, Ned Kelly would have been a great advocate for ANA that gave us our unique identity that supported the underdog.            ANA gave us the Wattle blossum as our national bloom on our Coat of Arms and the Australia Day holiday on the 26 January to celebrate Australian values and a fair go.              . See NATIVENED web page below               ~   The accepted view of history is mostly written by the winners, and many sides of a story are not always told.             In pursuit of truth and balance, the following facts are in support of Ned Kelly and does not sit well with contradictory views. -               Regarding the 1878 police party that set out to apprehend the Kellys, -              did you know that in the course of their paid duties Sergeant Kennedy and Cnst Scanlan had shared a substantial reward for a previous man arrest.         did you know that the reward monies offered came from the pockets of well to do farmers who had formed a fund they called - 'The Stock Preservation Society Fund'.      did you know Edward Kelly and his brother Dan were only wanted for an alleged offence, yet a massive man hunt with rewards were mounted for their arrest.       did you know that the police were in civilian clothes disguised to look like gold prospectors but were more akin to bounty hunters of the old American West.      Were they lured by the rewards offered? or justice?            It wasn't the police that were bad, but the system was bad.            did you know Sgnt Kennedy knew where Stringybark Creek was at least 15 months before the shootout with the Kellys because he had been witness to a court hearing about a hut burning there , yet the 1881 Royal Commission into the Police force and the Kelly outbreak records he was shown where to camp at Stringybark Ck only 2 weeks before the shootout there?              did you know Sgnt Kennedy had been tipped off- knowing where the Kellys were hiding -   it was no accident they were camped at Stringybark Creek.       these stories and more can be read at 'Two Huts at Stringybark Creek' story7            did you know Sgnt Kennedy knew he was close to the Kelly camp, plus expecting an easy arrest and getting the rewards offered,  yet his two other police mates knew nothing of this? -            at the start, did you know Sgnt Kennedy needed two more men,         one with knowledge of the bush around there,     the other who could identify Kelly,     but neither were on patrol for that purpose on their first day searching the area,       because Sgnt Kennedy and Const Scanlan it appears had other plans.             did you know McIntyre and Lonigan were believed to have been set up as decoys to lure the Kellys out?     did you know Kennedy and Scanlan were not going to share the rewards with the other two officers if they were not present at the arrest?          did you know McIntyre was not harmed as Ned said he would not do so, -  but McIntyre changed his story 3 times in defence of the police actions out of loyalty,   yet the police themselves persecuted Const McIntyre.       these stories and more can be read at 'Two Huts at Stringybark Creek' story 7       did you know that because Ned Kelly was declared an outlaw by an act of Parliament, he legally could not be trialled for anything after that Parliament had been dissolved for an upcoming election, and the following trial for Ned Kelly was conducted illegally. Not one lawyer in defence of Ned realised this, and could have declared Edward Kelly a free man. source, Alex C Castles new book Ned Kelly's last days.         
 

Two Huts at Stringybark Creek.  The only 'on the ground' research website into the haunts of the Kelly Gang. Two bush hut fireplaces found at Stringybark Ck by Kelly researcher Bill Denheld, help re-establish the exact location where three police were killed by the Kelly gang in October 1878. Old fireplaces found, are all that remain of two huts that are important to the Kelly story as one was certainly the shingle hut that Ned Kelly referred to in his Jerilderie letter dated 1879. It was recorded the police camped "near the ruins of two small huts, one of which was burnt down" so we cannot rule out they actually camped near these two huts on the western bank of the creek.
The Police Camp Site; There has been ongoing investigation to identify the true site.

Now read Bill's conclusion for identifying the authentic site. Over a period of 12 months a team of five have studied, visited the sites, pondered over and over the evidence only to disagree. The majority of team members favored the area near the Kelly tree to which Bill could not agree. Bill was then advised if he could not agree with the team's selection and paper known as draft K28, then he should write his own. Despite Bill's endeavor to have the team see their error, Bill however could not put his name to a document that failed on one fundamental point, the slope in the Burman photo. This link takes you to Bill's paper that leads you through the only site to pass the photo test.  



Stringybark Creek Newsupdates, The works at Stringybark Creek have to be stopped , Historian Ian Jones is wrong on Stringybark Police camp site in his new Kelly book. The three creeks at Stringybark are to be Heritage listed. 13th May 2008, Jeremy Smith of Heritage Victoria gives the go ahead to list the Kelly sites at Stringybark Ck, Kellys Ck, and Germans Creek sites on the Victorian Heritage register.



“Valid links with the Past” Kelly Sites Toombullup beginning 1885...
Historians, Sheila Hutchinson and Fay Johnson bring you back to where the Kelly occupation had left its mark. Using their facsenating research, the exact location of the Kelly target tree and the Kelly hut site can be plotted on the ground. As expected the Kelly related sites were marked on the earliest maps of the district.




nativened.  Where was Ned Kelly born? Dctr Maikel Annalee narrows it down to Wallan East some 3 Km North East of Beveridge town, (the previously accepted area). Like an archeological dig, we find new information that follows a thread connecting Ned to the Federation of Australia.  Read Dctr Annalee's Easter message 2009
A recent Herald Sun article by journalist Mike Edmonds follows the thread.

                          Background image is a model replica of Joe Byrne's iron helmet for sale -


          
The death mask and faces of Ned Kelly
www.denheldid.com/twohuts/story10.html
The original death mask was part of a special display at Maxmillion Kreitmeyer's Waxworks in Bourke Street Melbourne 1880 the morning after Ned's execution. Kreitmeyer was reputed to have made the first impression from Ned's face,  however, new information suggests the death mask may have been made by an accompanying Sydney Waxworks owner Desiderio Cristofani working with Maxmillion Kreitmeyer. 



For the latest finding at German's Creek where Sergeant Kennedy died. Sergeant Kennedy was the officer in charge of the Mansfield police party to hunt for the Kelly brothers. Following the fatal shootout with the Kelly gang at Stringybark Ck where two police were killed, the Sergeants body was not found till five days later some 700 meters away to the North west.
This research reports on the quest to find the area using all recorded information.
See a 360 degree virtual tour panorama of the most likely spot. 








The Kelly hut on Bullock Creek may not have been the only hut.
www.denheldid.com/twohuts/kellyhut.html
UPDATE, This looks at the possibility there were two huts occupied by the Kelly's at Bullock Ck. One was described by Constable James who found the Kelly camp one month after the killings at Stringybark Ck,  the other is a photo of a hut, but the description doesn't match the photo?  Here is a possible answer to the vexing question, were there TWO huts at Bullock Ck ? Another recent discovered is a 1930's photo of the Kelly Ck sawmill that was built directly over one of the Kelly camp hut sites. The picture shows a tree that could be one of the Kelly target trees. 


The Bullets of Kellys Creek www.denheldid.com/twohuts/bullets.html
During 1985 Bill Denheld is metal detecting at Kelly's Ck, where the Kellys lived for up to six months leading up to the shoot out with the police at Stringybark Ck. It stood to reason that some bullets fired by the Kelly's at target trees had missed the target. Included are the only known photos of the actual trees fired at by the Kellys' during their target practice at Bullock Creek 1878 ( later renamed Kelly's Ck, The photos of target trees were discovered during Aug 2003 some 125 years later. The target trees date from well before the shootings at Stringybark Ck.





The Deposition papers of Thomas McIntyre. He was the sole survivor of the shootout with the Kelly gang at Stringybark Ck. On the margin of his court papers for the prosecution of Ned Kelly, someone has drawn a little hut. We like to believe this hut drawing represents the Shingle hut near where the police had camped.
Sharon Hollingsworth brings to light who may have drawn this hut doodle.

                         These two web pages are inter related 

Police journey to Stringybark Ck Oct 1878 - did the police party get lost?
McIntyre's evidence, suggests the police party of four entered Stringybark from the North, - yet they traveled from the South.  Ned Kelly testifies he saw police horse tracks way to the North East of Stringybark Ck which he attributed to a second South bound police party. Hut image from McIntyre's deposition court papers.





The hut behind the school. When the Kelly Gang were on the run during 1879-80 they were protected by many sympathisers and local farmers in N. East Victoria. This is another HUT discovery story still evolving. ' The hut behind the school ' was known about by locals long ago, but where it stood has only now been discovered by a group of Kelly researchers led by Alan Gibb, Arthur Hall and Marcus Swinburne. Each a descendant of land owners who were there at the time, they came together to solve a 100 year old mystery. With some old local knowledge and modern technology this little know piece of Kelly history is now for all to read. However, does anyone know of this hut pictured? This hut is not the hut behind the school- but was a Kelly gang occupied hut. But where was this?



                                   See replica model of Dan Kelly's iron helmet for sale
 

Ned Kelly Centre at Glenrowan
www.nedkellycentre.com  
Take a 360 virtual tour panorama of the Glenrowan Siege site precinct.

An Open Letter to the People of Glenrowan August 2005, 300 residents were sent the open letter questionnaire for their thoughts. The Open Letter found that the majority of townsfolk wanted a Ned Kelly Centre in Glenrowan, they felt that the town would benefit from the Centre, they felt they had been consulted enough about the generalities of the proposal and that the authorities should now actively pursue the final design and construction of the Ned Kelly Centre.


Kelly gang helmet armour
www.ironicon.com.au/helmets.htm
This is a 1/3rd scale replica is of Ned's helmet.  Each of the Kelly gang's helmets have been replicated and are available as a collectable set. These models are very close to the originals in detail and each exhibit all the nuances of blacksmiths work. They are authentic in every detail and may never again be reproduced in sets of four. In this page we also analyze ' who may have made the amours' simply by the study of design features and plenty of conjecture.
 

                               See replica model of Ned Kelly's iron helmet for sale                                

 
New Kelly find leaves theory of shootings up the creek
Melbourne newspaper ' The Age' on 10 Feb 2003 by Geoff Strong.
A gunpowder flask recovered from the ' Shingle' hut site (dating from the time of the Kellys) proves where the Kelly gang shootout occurred. The Age article headline, true to its word was not appreciated by eminent Kelly historian Mr. Ian Jones, who had declaring the huts finding as 'codswollup' on the Melbourne ABC radio 774 morning program. His denigrating remark was unfortunate, since the huts finding proves the location of the shootout . Picture SANDY SCHELTEMA

 

Local fossicker unlocks Kelly armour mystery?  The Age 30 Sept 2006
An army of historians and folklore aficionados have been unable to establish in the 120 years since the armour made its mark on Australian judicial legend, where was it made? Beechworth local Darren Sutton believes he has found the forge where Byrne's armour suit was created. Darren found a piece of iron offcut that he claims matches part of Joe Byrnes armour.  - reports Age writer- Steve Waldon .
Unfortunately however, scientific analysis of the iron has proven a negative match which Darren believes is wrongly assayed by the experts. To read Darren's reply click here.


                         
Archaeology of the Glenrowan Inn site,   Anne Jones's hotel The siege site of The Glenrowan Inn as photographed the morning of 28 June 1880. Today the hotel site plays a very important historical roll in the retelling of the siege at Glenrowan. Luckily, the land where the hotel once stood has not been redeveloped  largely due to the conservator owners the Briggs family of Glenrowan. UPDATED 22 May 08

 

Ned Kelly's World
www.nedkellysworld.com.au Gary Dean's website is one of the original sites. Much of his research has a basis upon generations of intimate and local knowledge concerning the real story. The genealogy of Gang member descendants can be traced to the present day plus loads of other information not found elsewhere. The archive section was previously a pay site, but now free to all. This site is a key stone site to the whole Kelly story. A passionate researcher of Kelly, Gary is the guru, and is distantly related to the Kelly clan as well as to the very lady who sewed up the Eureka flag Anastasia Withers.  

Ned Kelly Bushranger
www.bailup.com/assorted%20history%20facts.htm
 for facts at a glance; the Kelly Gang story.
This is a serious look at the whole Kelly story and reports on mistruths that always seems to be published. 'Let the truth be known' and Justice to the story. www.bailup.com is a great resource to any Kelly student.  The site is the work of Nicky Cowie who has created an institution. The above links to 'facts at a glance'  is a good starting point.


feedback to Iron-Icon. and Two Huts stories
If you have an opinion or can add to the story, have your say. 
Ned Kelly and Stringy Bark Creek are an important starting point to the Kelly story, share your thoughts or critique, agree or disagree and claim a genuine fragment of the Kelly target tree. This tiny wood keepsake relic of Australian folklore history is limited.....




Links to other Kelly related sites