But the plan to derail the police train failed. The police protecting Aaron Sherritt were too scared to leave his hut and the murder was not reported until the next day. The Kellys had to wait 24 hours longer for the police train than they had planned. The hostages were becoming difficult to control. To keep them amused the outlaws held a dance in the hotel, where Kelly danced a quadrille with Jane Jones, daughter of the hotel owner. They also had sporting events including the hop, step and jump. Kelly used two revolvers as extra weights while taking part in the jumping. A local school teacher, Thomas Curnow, talked Ned into letting him take his family home. As soon as he was free Curnow went down to the railway line, waving a lantern (light) wrapped in his red scarf. The train stopped safely.
The 46 police quickly left the train and placed themselves around the hotel so that the Kelly Gang was trapped inside. The gang members put on their armour, made from plough parts. All four had helmets. Each man's armour was quite heavy; Ned's armour weighed , which was about half his body weight. The police fired their guns into the building for seven hours. It is estimated that 15,000 bullets were fired during the shooting. The police ordered a cannon from Melbourne so that they could destroy the inn, but it would take too long to arrive so they set fire to the building instead.
At dawn on Monday 28 June, Ned Kelly came out of the inn wearing his armour. He marched towards the police, firing his gun at them. Their bullets bounced off his armour. Sergeant Steel shot him in his legs that were not protected by armour. Joe Byrne died in the front room from loss of blood because a gunshot cut his femoral artery. Dan Kelly and Steve Hart may have killed themselves as their bodies were found lying side by side in a back room with their heads on blankets. They had taken off their armour and it was found next to them. Several hostages were shot, and three died, including 13-year-old Jack Jones, the son of the hotel owner. Martin Cherry, a railway worker, was rescued from the burning hotel but died soon afterwards. George Metcalfe, a quarry worker, who was forced to pull up the railway line died later from injuries. The police had one small injury; the police Superintendent, Francis Hare, received a wound to his wrist, then fled the battle. The Royal Commission set up to examine the Kelly Gang later removed Hare from the Victoria Police.
Ned Kelly was taken to the Melbourne Gaol where he was treated for his wounds. He was visited by his mother who was in the same prison for wounding Constable Fitzpatrick. In August he was taken back to Beechworth by train for the first court hearings. The court agreed that Kelly would be tried in court for the murder of Thomas Lonigan and Michael Scanlon at Stringybark Creek. The government thought people around Beechworth might not find Kelly guilty of the crimes, and so they had the trial moved to Melbourne. At the trial the jury found Kelly guilty of both murders. He was sentenced to death by the Irish-born judge Sir Redmond Barry with the words "May God have mercy on your soul". Kelly said "I will go a little further than that, and say I will see you there when I go".
Many people did not agree with the death sentence. A petition with more than 60,000 names asked the government for mercy. Ned Kelly was hanged on 11 November 1880, at the Melbourne Gaol for murder. Several newspapers including "The Age" and "The Herald" reported Kelly's last words as "Such is life". Sir Redmond Barry died after a short illness on 23 November, 1880, only 12 days after Kelly's death.
Ned Kelly was buried in an unmarked grave at the Melbourne Gaol, in an area with other criminals who had also been hanged at the gaol. The bones of 32 people were dug up in 1929 when the gaol was being redeveloped, and reburied at Pentridge Gaol in Coburg, Victoria. The burial site at Pentridge was rediscovered in 2008. DNA testing has proved that one set of bones was the skeleton of Ned Kelly. Experts from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine said that the DNA clearly matches one of Kelly's living relatives. The bones show some of the injuries Kelly got during the shoot out with the police. The Kelly skeleton does not have a skull.
A skull, said to be Kelly's, was found during the digging at the gaol in 1929. It was put on display at the Old Melbourne Gaol, but it was stolen in 1978. On the anniversary of Ned Kelly's hanging, 11 November 2009, a farmer from Western Australia gave a skull back to Heritage Victoria which he said had been taken from the gaol. It was tested for DNA to see if it was Ned Kelly's skull. These tests showed it was not, and the location of Kelly's skull is still unknown.
In 2013, the Victorian Government finally gave Kelly's remains to his family. A funeral service was held at St. Patrick's Church, Wangaratta on 18 January, 2013. During the service, family members who read from the Bible wore a green silk sash. Relatives of Constable Michael Scanlon and Aaron Sherrit also attended the service. Kelly was buried in an unmarked grave at Greta on 20 January 2013.
The DNA that was recovered from Ned's skeleton was mitochondrial DNA. That was matched with one of Ned's maternal relations (Ned's grand nephew Leigh Olver). No adequate quality Y-DNA was recovered from Ned's bones or has been recovered from any of Ned's known paternal side relatives (Y-DNA is passed from father to son). There is a chance that a Y-DNA sample may be isolated from Ned's bones one day using more advanced laboratory procedures, however, it is also possible that a Y-DNA sample could be taken from the remains of one of Ned's male relatives such as his father, his uncles or his brothers. Their graves are all well known. A Y-DNA sample would reveal exactly which Kelly line Ned belongs to. Currently the Kelly Surname Y-DNA study has the results of over 500 Y-DNA samples but no comparison can be made until a sample from one of Ned's family is obtained. Based on location, the most frequent Kelly line in south-west Ireland (Tipperary, Clare and Kerry) is the O'Brien-Kelly line (L226+).
Ned Kelly is still a major part of Australian popular culture. His story has been told in books, movies, plays and television shows. His image has been used for everything from cakes to tattoos. A recent study showed that people with a Ned Kelly tattoo were eight times more likely to be murdered. In 1980, the Australian Post Office released a set of postage stamps to remember the 100th anniversary of the siege at Glenrowan. In 2010 the National Gallery of Victoria paid AU$2.2 million for a painting of Ned Kelly by artist Sidney Nolan. It was Nolan's paintings of Ned Kelly that inspired the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. In June 2011 the Williamstown Australian Rules Football Club claimed that Ned Kelly had played 11 games for the club in 1873 while serving time in the prison ship. It was also claimed that in 1928 they had found a suit of armour buried on the football ground.
Ben Hall
Ben Hall (9 May 1837 — 5 May 1865) was an Australian bushranger. A bushranger is a thief who roamed the countryside and country towns of Australia, usually escaping on horseback, like a highwayman. Most bushrangers were simply criminals and thieves. Ben Hall is one of the few bushrangers, like Ned Kelly, who were thought of as outlaw heroes.
Ben Hall lived at a time when gold had been discovered in New South Wales and Victoria. Thousands of people went out to the places where gold had been discovered to "seek their fortunes" and hoping to get rich. Like many bushrangers, Ben Hall and his gang robbed coaches that were carrying gold from the goldfields. Ben Hall was able to avoid being arrested by the police for many years because he had many friends and relatives to help him.