The ‘letterbox’-style headpiece and matching body armour worn by Ned Kelly and his gang are recognisable icons that feature prominently in the work of artists such as Sidney Nolan, Albert Tucker and Chopper Read, another notorious criminal.
In 1879 - the year before the Glenrowan siege and Ned's ultimate capture - the Kelly gang began constructing the suits of armour from mouldboards, the thick metal parts of a farmer’s plough. They acquired these materials in various ways - some were bought; others were offered to them by sympathetic farmers; a few were stolen.
The suits allowed the gang to walk away unharmed from close-range shooting, but they also served a less practical function: they made the gang members - Ned in particular - seem larger, more intimidating; even ghostly. The shock factor of the metal-clad Kelly would have been much to Ned’s advantage during the Glenrowan siege.
After the gang was killed and Ned captured, the police officers involved in the capture wanted to keep parts of the suits as souvenirs. Various pieces of the suits were separated, some making their way into private ownership. But after years of research to determine which pieces belonged to which gang member, Ned Kelly’s complete armour is now on permanent display in the Library’s Changing face of Victoria exhibition.
The Library has also created a video featuring a virtual reconstruction of the armour and background to its creation.
View the video [5:48min, 15.97MB Flash file] >
Find out more about the suit of armour >
Learn about the capture of the Kelly gang [external link] > | 
