A companion guide to the Ned Kelly display at State Library Victoria. Features physical and digital items in our collections and links to external sites.
[Suit of armour worn by Ned Kelly] [1880] H20171
Left shoulder plate on loan from Museums Victoria. Right shoulder plate purchased with funds from the Sundberg Bequest and the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts 2001
Ned Kelly’s iron armour is a defining part of his story. All four members of the Kelly gang – Ned, his brother Dan, and their friends Joe Byrne and Steve Hart, wore armoured suits in their final confrontation with the police at Glenrowan in June 1880. Ned was the only gang member to survive the siege.
The armour is constructed from farm machinery. Historians have speculated that the parts may have been stolen or gifted, and that the armour was forged by blacksmiths who may have been sympathetic to the gang. But these ideas remain unconfirmed.
While Ned Kelly’s armour was in the care of The Institute of Applied Sciences, now part of Museums Victoria, an assistant director there asked, ‘Why should we revere a convicted murderer?’ and so in 1965 the armour was taken off view and transferred to the care of the Library. That question frames a debate now more than 100 years old. After all this time, it continues to describe the unsettled complexity of this story. The Library is one custodian of Victoria’s memory and somewhere to debate what, how and why we tell stories about our past and how we remember ourselves to the future.
Following Kelly's capture, there was some debate regarding ownership of his suit of armour, and pieces were acquired by different individuals and organisations. Here is a taste of the history behind the armour currently on display in the Redmond Barry Reading Room:
Ned Kelly's armour. From a sketch made by Mr. T. Carrington (July 3, 1880) A/S03/07/80/152
Prior to 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.
The suits allowed the gang to walk away unharmed from close-range shooting, but they also made the gang members – Ned in particular – seem larger, more intimidating; even ghostly. The shock factor of the metal-clad Kelly gave him some psychological advantage over his attackers during the confrontation with the police at Glenrowan. But the weight of the armour also greatly reduced his mobility which prevented any chance of escape.
A journalist present at the Glenrowan siege, Tom Carrington, described the metal-clad Kelly in this way:
‘there was no head visible and in the dim light of morning, with the steam rising from the ground, it looked for all the world like the ghost of Hamlet’s father with no head, only a very thick neck…. The figure continued gradually to advance, stopping every now and then and moving what looked like its headless neck mechanically round, and then raising one foot onto a log, and aiming and firing a revolver. Shot after shot was fired at it, but without effect’
Eventually under sustained police attack, Kelly was wounded several times in parts of his body not protected by the armour and brought down. The other gang members had been killed and Ned Kelly was 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.
In 2001, Allison Holland’s research into the four sets of armour revealed that the set held by the Library, previously believed to be the set worn by Steve Hart, was in fact that worn by Ned Kelly. Both shoulder pieces were reunited with the set at later dates – one owned by State Library Victoria, the other by Museums Victoria.
Ned Kelly's armour weighed around 45 kilos but the heavy suit of steel saved his life when he emerged from the bush at Glenrowan, gun blazing, and helped launch the Kelly myth.
Our virtual reconstruction of Ned Kelly's iconic suit of armour shows how each piece was fashioned from plough metal and put together with bolts and leather.
You can also see where the bullet from a policeman's rifle struck the helmet's visor – and did you know that, ironically, Ned Kelly was captured when police fired at his unprotected legs?
Watch the video above to find out more.
Ned Kelly's armour is now on display in the Redmond Barry Reading Room.
First published on November 29th, 2019 on the State Library Victoria website.
As immigration, technology and time changes Australia as a nation, there are certain mythologies which endure. Whether it’s a batsman from Bowral, a depression era horse who was unstoppable on the track, or a bushranger named Ned, there are some stories that are integral to our history.
The questions of truth, mythmaking and nationhood triggered by Ned Kelly’s armour continue today, and no matter what side of the debate you’re on, there’s no disputing that the ‘letterbox’-style headpiece and matching body armour has become one of the country’s most identifiable icons.
In a rare close-up look at Ned Kelly’s armour, Conservation Manager Jane Hinwood takes us on an intimate journey of how the armour was constructed, and reveals the many intricate details beyond what is visible when the armour is on public display.
Construction of the armour was a clandestine affair, as using the services of an established forge would have drawn unwanted attention, Jane notes. However, the gang did find some farmers sympathetic to their cause who offered mouldboards, the thick metal parts of a farmer’s plough, for the armour. Other farmers weren’t so lucky, and reported that their mouldboards had been stolen. A police informer, Daniel Kennedy, reported the ‘...missing portions of cultivators described as jackets are now being worked and fit splendidly.'
The armour not only allowed the gang to survive close-range shooting, as highlighted by Jane, but it was also designed to intimidate, with Ned and the gang appearing large and ghostly as Sergeant Steele described during the final siege in Glenrowan. The suit was ‘human, as to its clothes, but altogether inhuman as to its shape and general appearance’.
After the gang was killed and Ned was captured, Superintendent Hare (who led the attack at Glenrowan) believed that as a reward, he was entitled to keep Ned’s suit. Subsequently, the Superintendent took armour he believed was Ned’s, when in fact, it belonged to Joe Byrne, another member of the ‘Kelly Gang’.
The fight for ownership of the armour continued, with Superintendent Sadler in Benalla holding several stacks of armour that the head office in Melbourne wanted returned. Adding another layer to the intrigue, Chief Commissioner Captain Standish in Melbourne fearing the potential for worship of the gang by some in the public, believed that the armour should be destroyed.
‘[T]he Beechworth Museum...are anxious to have one suit of armour presented to them. Now I entirely disapprove of this as its exhibition will keep up the disgusting Kelly-heroism and have a very detrimental effect on the rising generation. My intention is apply to the Chief Secretary to have the four suits smashed up at once.’
With knowledge that the Chief Commissioner was about to retire, Superintendent Sadler delayed the return of the armour until a new Commissioner, who was less inclined to destroy the armour, was in place.
From Glenrowan to Benalla, and now the Library, the fascination with Ned Kelly’s suit continues to this very day, and there’s perhaps no more fitting summary of Ned’s stature than with Jane’s final thoughts. ‘Whether you believe in his story. Whether you think he’s a hero or villain…he’s definitely part of our history.’
First published July 19th, 2021 on the State Library Victoria website.
In April 2021, after a year-long hiatus, Ned Kelly's armour was relocated to its new home in the Library's South Rotunda.
In this short documentary, Conservation Manager Jane Hinwood discusses the armour's cultural significance, its place in the Library's collection, and shares lesser-known details about the armour's history.
Watch rare footage of the armour being cleaned, including fascinating details on the inside of the armour, before it's moved to its new home.
Click play on the video above to follow the journey of State Library Victoria's most popular (and most controversial) collection item as it goes back on display.
A free display of Ned Kelly's armour is currently showing in the Redmond Barry Reading Room.
First published April 23rd, 2021 on the State Library Victoria website.
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Visit the Victoria Police Museum to see the original sets of armour worn by Dan Kelly and Steve Hart, among other objects relating to Stringybark Creek and the Kelly Gang.
Joe Byrne's armour is held in private hands. It has occasionally been exhibited.
It was displayed along with the other three in a 2011 exhibition held at the National Museum of Australia: Not Just Ned: A True History of the Irish in Australia
An analyses of Joe Byrne's armour was published by the National Museum of Australia in the Proceedings of Metal 2004.
Ned Kelly's armour (1940) H20174
Photograph of Ned Kelly's armor on mannequin wearing long boots and holding a gun. Behind him is a framed group of photographs on the wall.
[Suit of armour made by Kelly Gang displayed at the Exhibition Buildings in the Carlton Gardens] (February 18, 1933) H20171/2
This image, published in the Weekly Times on 18 February 1933, shows the suit of armour now held by the State Library Victoria on display at the Exhibition Building in Carlton Gardens. The shoulder piece has been incorrectly attached to the back of the armour and can be seen at the right hand side.
[Suit of armour worn by Ned Kelly] [1880] H20171
Left shoulder plate on loan from Museums Victoria. Right shoulder plate purchased with funds from the Sundberg Bequest and the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts 2001.
