Ned Kelly is Australia�s equivalent of Robin Hood. Images of Ned Kelly in his suit-of-armour is a vivid part of Australia�s legend. Ned Kelly�s legendary career of mayhem and murder only lasted 3 years, and he was only 26 years old when he was hanged.

He grew up among impoverished Irish farmers near Benalla in northern Victoria. Ned first grew foul of the law when he shot a police constable in the wrist. He fled into the bush, and teamed up with his brother Dan, and two friends, Joe Byrne and Steve Hart. In a shoot-out at Stringybark Creek, Ned killed three of a party of four police who were hunting him. From then on, the �Kellys� became a part of Australian folklore. Australian society at that time became divided in its attitude towards the Kellys. The rich upper class saw Ned Kelly as a callous, blood thirsty ruffian. The working class in both towns and country saw him as a hero.

Ned Kelly saw himself as a Robin Hood and a defender of the free against the oppressive British overlords. His escapades were always daring and dramatic. Instead of just robbing coaches, his gang bailed-up whole towns (!), cutting up telegraph and robbing the banks

Ned Kelly�s Last Stand at GlenrowanThe Ned Kelly Gang hid out in the Wombat Ranges, but in June 1880, they came out to fight the police upon hearing that a whole trainload (!) of policemen were on their way to arrest them. Having executed their suspected betrayer (an old friend � hmm), they captured the town of Glenrowan, Victoria, held up all the town�s folks as prisoners in the pub (hmm- not a bad place) . The Kelly�s also ripped up the tracks on which the train was to arrive.

One captive, however, persuaded the sometimes compassionate Ned to let him go (big mistake !). That captive immediately fled and warned the approaching train. A furious shoot-out, which went from night till down, erupted between the Kellys inside the Glenrowan Hotel and the police outside. A wounded Ned Kelly then donned his famous suit of home-made armour and attempted to shoot his way out against tens of policemen. Bullets bounced off his armour, and he was taunting the police (�Fire away ! You bastards, you can�t hurt me�. He nearly succeeded in pulling off an escape � until a Sergent Steele shot him in his unprotected legs (!). Ned Kelly crumpled to the ground and was overpowered. The police then torched the Glenrowan Hotel, and the other three members of the Kelly Gang died within it, rather than surrender.

The trial and hanging of Ned Kelly, and the death of his judge Four months later, after one of the most celebrated trials in Australian history, Ned Kelly was found guilty and was sentenced. The judge, Sir Redmond Barry, a prosperous free immigrant, represented the total opposite to Ned Kelly�s impoverished background and community. �Edward Kelly,�, he intoned, �I hereby sentence you to death by hanging. May the Lord have mercy on your soul.� Ned Kelly replied in a clear, level voice: �Yes, I will meet you there.� Ned Kelly was hanged at the Melbourne Gaol on 11 November 1880. Redmond Barry died a fortnight later of a lung congestion (!).