There’s no denying that Ned Kelly was a notorious criminal, feared around Victoria and beyond as a robber and murderer. Despite this, he had many sympathisers who believed that he was a symbol of the Australian spirit – an enduring underdog with the courage to challenge the authorities.
This perception was no doubt fuelled by Kelly’s ‘Jerilderie Letter’, an 8000-word manifesto in which he justifies his crimes and exposes what he viewed as unfair police persecution of himself and his family. Ned dictated the letter to Joe Byrne, who rewrote it in neater handwriting.
The letter was written in 1879, around the time the gang robbed the Jerilderie Bank. Ned gave the letter to the bank’s accountant, Edward Living, and told him to have it published. Living, however, hopped on a train to Melbourne and passed the letter on to the police. The letter was eventually uncovered and presented at Kelly’s trial in 1880.
Although it uses somewhat rough language and contains little grammar or punctuation, the Jerilderie Letter offers a valuable insight into Ned Kelly's personality. It tells the story of a young man forced into crime by situations beyond his control.
The events the letter describes also provided inspiration for Peter Carey’s prize-winning novel, The True History of the Kelly Gang.
Explore the original Jerilderie Letter online >
Listen to a fictionalised soundscape of the Jerilderie seige >
Find out more about the Jerilderie Letter > | 
