Ned Kelly

Letter written by Joe Byrne at the dictation of Ned Kelly [1879 Feb.] MS 13361

The Jerilderie letter is a handwritten document dictated by Ned Kelly to fellow Kelly gang member Joe Byrne. It was written over a period of a few months, and Kelly’s intention was for the letter to be published in the press.   

The 56-page letter chronicles the careers of Ned Kelly and his fellow gang members from 1870 onwards, including a description of the fatal shooting of three police officers at Stringybark Creek, Victoria, in 1878. He argued that there were important personal and political reasons behind the gang’s actions. 

In the letter, Kelly claimed he shot the police in self-defence. He also cites cases of alleged police corruption, expresses pro-Irish and anti-English sentiments, and demands justice for his family and other poor Irish settlers. He describes how he and his family were the victims of racial and class-based persecution at the hands of the police and the ‘squattocracy’ who controlled the most fertile farming land and parts of the government. 

The letter is accompanied by an undated note stating, ‘This is the document given to me by Ned Kelly when the Bank at Jerilderie was stuck up in Feby. 1879’. 

The famed Jerilderie letter has been freely available to view online through the Library website since November 23rd, 2000, when its acquisition was first announced to the public. In succeeding years, it has been newly digitised and a high resolution copy of the Jerilderie letter (as seen below) can be viewed and downloaded for free online (click to view catalogue record of the letter). 

How did the Jerilderie letter come to be a part of the Library's Manuscripts Collection?

1960s Kelly biographer Ian Jones shares his account of its acquisition in La Trobe Journal article, 'Ned Kelly's Jerilderie letter' (issue no.66, Spring 2000). In tracing the journey of this Kelly artefact, Jones highlights how public and institutional receptions to the Kelly story have changed since the letter was first penned. To learn more about the letter's history, read our Library blog piece on the Jerilderie letter.

Transcripts of the Jerilderie letter

To view a transcript of the letter within the image viewer (above), select the 'Show transcripts' button. There are other transcripts available, including a copy on the Library website and published copies held in the Library collection (click to view more catalogue records).

Immerse yourself in the drama of the Jerilderie siege, when Ned Kelly and his gang took over the small Riverina town in February 1879. Using voice, sound effects and music, this audio presentation re-creates the events that led to Kelly handing over his Jerilderie letter to Edwin Living.

Directed by John Paul Fischbach, the soundscape is a fictionalised version of real incidents drawn from historical sources.

Speakers

John Paul Fischbach is a recognised theatre director, producer and special events creator. He has worked on heritage and history dramatic audio projects in Australia, Canada and the US.

First published on November 16th, 2009 on the State Library Victoria website.

To better understand the sentiments Kelly expressed in the Jerilderie letter, it is helpful to consider the historical and political context in which it was written. 

"Wherever they lived around their world and whatever their affiliations, 19th-century Irish people maintained a strong interest in Irish politics. This was especially the case in Australia: among the 40,000 Irish convicts transported here were participants in the 1798 Irish Rebellion, the 1803 Rising led by Robert Emmet, and the ‘Young Ireland’ revolt of 1848. 

Australia in the 19th and early 20th centuries mirrored Ireland's social structure, in which the Anglo-Protestant minority occupied positions of power over the Catholic majority. Though tensions were (generally) never as violent as they were in Ireland itself, religious difference played its part in shaping relationships within Australia's Irish community."

- Dr Anna Welch in an excerpt from the Easter Rising, Dublin, 1916 research guide

You can find more of this overview of sectarianism in Australia in our Easter Rising, Dublin, 1916 research guide, which accompanies the The Irish Rising: 'A terrible beauty is born' exhibition held at the Library in 2016. 

Further reading

The Library collection offers many books on the Irish settler experience alluded to in the Jerilderie letter. You can find these by searching our catalogue using a few simple keywords, such as "Irish diaspora Australia*", or using genre headings, such as Irish -- Australia -- History. These genre headings are available in catalogue records, so once you've found a title of interest, you can use the genre headings in its record to find other related works that may be of interest. We hold books in print and online. 

You might start with this series collection, History of Ireland and the Irish diaspora or the titles below:

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Learn about the background, reception and impact of the Jerilderie letter in our Library blog.