NED KELLY - Bushranger

Ned Kelly remains one of Australia’s most iconic and controversial figures, a man whose life blurs the line between outlaw and folk hero. Born in 1854 in rural Victoria, Kelly grew up in a struggling Irish immigrant family facing poverty and tension with colonial authorities. These early hardships shaped his distrust of police and authority.

Kelly rose to notoriety in the 1870s as a bushranger, leading a small gang that carried out bank robberies and evaded capture across the Australian bush. His conflict with police escalated dramatically after the killing of three officers at Stringybark Creek in 1878, an event that made him a wanted man across the colony.

Perhaps most famous is Kelly’s final stand at Glenrowan in 1880. Wearing a homemade suit of iron armour, he confronted police in a dramatic siege that has since become legendary. Despite his protection, Kelly was captured, tried, and later executed by hanging in Melbourne at the age of 25.
Over time, Kelly’s story has been reinterpreted.

To some, he was a criminal; to others, a symbol of resistance against injustice and colonial oppression. His legacy continues to shape Australian identity, appearing in literature, art, and national folklore like a ghost riding the edges of history.