In The News

Remains of Ned Kelly to be handed over

Remains of Ned Kelly to be handed over

THE remains of Ned Kelly, the famous Australian outlaw, are to be handed over to his descendants more than 130 years after he was executed.

Kelly was hanged in 1880 after being convicted of killing three police officers. Following the execution his remains were buried in a  mass grave at Old Melbourne jail.

In 1929 all the remains were exhumed and transferred to land at Pentridge Prison which was closed in the late 1990s. When work began to develop the former prison site the mass grave was again disturbed.

Efforts were made to identify some of the remains using DNA and it was this process that resulted in the Kelly bones being identified in November 2011.

A plan was suggested for the remains to be put on display but now the state officials have ordered that the bones must be reburied.

Relatives of the notorious outlaw will now being given the remains so that hey can arrange to have them buried.

However, the skeleton is incomplete. The killer’s skull has disappeared. The Kelly family have appealed for it to be returned.

Kelly had been the leader of a gang of outlaws in the state of Victoria in the late 1800s. He was captured, wearing home-made armour, in June 1880, after being surrounded by police at a building in Glenrowan.

In 2008 it was announced that an archaeological dig was to be carried out at the site where Kelly was captured (see below).

Feelings are still mixed towards the outlaw with some Australians regarding him as a cold-blooded killer and others praising him for standing up to the authorities.

To view a report about the archaeological dig at Glenrowan, click here.

 

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