The Legend Of Ned Kelly - Australia's Answer To Robin Hood

Ned Kelly is one of Australia's best known folk heroes, like most kids in Australia I spent a decent amount of time learning about the history of the Kelly gang - told as almost a cautionary tale, but often received as one of legend.

Even today people here are divided over whether Ned Kelly and the Kelly gang were mere outlaws, or were they revolutionaries trying to change Australia for the better and overcome persecution.

Given the time Ned Kelly lived not every part of the story has been officially recorded, but for the time it was one of the best covered stories in Australian history.

Ned Kelly 15 yrs - police mugshot - image source

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Ned Kelly's Early Life:

Ned Kelly was born in December of 1854, to John Kelly (Red) and Ellen Quinn he was the third child of eight children - he was the eldest boy.

Red Kelly had been sent to Australia in 1841 at only 22 years of age for stealing 2 pigs (to feed his family), he met and married Ellen in 1850 after his release from prison.

In 1865 Red was convicted of unlawful possession of a bullock hide (again to feed his family), this basically means he had meat but couldn't prove how he had bought it - unable to pay the twenty five pound fine he was sentenced this time for 6 months hard labour.

Ned was only 11 at this time and as the eldest male in the house, he dropped out of school and began to work the land and care for his mother and siblings as best he could.

One day on his way to town a 7 year old boy's hat was blown into a river, as he was attempting to retrieve it he fell in and gets swept away.

With no one else there Ned leapt in after the boy in spite of only barely being able to swim himself, he manages to catch the boy and pull him ashore - he then walks the boy home the pair soaked and shivering (Victoria is cold).

As thanks the boys parents arrange to present Ned with a green silk sash with gold tassels Ireland's colours, Ned was proud beyond belief and treasured the sash as a symbol of his heroism.

Shortly after Red was released from prison, but he was no longer the fun loving energetic father Ned remembered relying of alcohol to get through the day - Red Kelly died in 1866 from liver failure.

After Red's death the family moved to Greta to be closer to Ellen's sisters (both had husbands in prison), again Ned set out to work the land to earn a living for his family - but with poor land little would grow resulting in Ned cutting down lumber to get by.

This is around the time when ned met Harry Powers a local Bushranger (a thief) who had been imprisoned with Neds uncles, he convinces Ned to join him and the two set off but whilst staking out their first job they are seen and have to flee after being shot at - Ned decides to leave bushranging.

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Ned's Early Run Ins With Police:

Upon returning to Greta Ned learns that his mother's new fiancee has left her pregnant, his siblings have all dropped out of school and a wealthy squatter (land owner) is now attempting to have the Kelly family thrown off their land.

After a year of struggle Ned returned to bushranging with Harry powers, the two were far more successful this time round travelling the countryside robbing as they went - this resulted in a 500 pound bounty being set for the capture of Harry Powers, a massive amount of money at the time.

Ned's uncle was tempted by the bounty and helped police set a trap to catch Harry Powers, however before the trap was even set they managed to catch Ned.

Ned's uncle managed to convince the police to let Ned go, otherwise he would not provide them with Powers and the police agreed - all evidence and witnesses disappeared and Ned was released.

But he was kept in a hotel at the time to keep him away from Harry Power, this all came back to haunt him when he learned the Harry Powers had been arrested and that it now looked as thought Ned was the one who turned him in.

So for now Ned got away with it but on the 20th of April 1871, a family friend had left a horse with the Kelly's and taken one of theirs in return - the horse was a beauty and Ned decided to ride the horse into town.

This is when a constable ordered Ned off the horse, as Ned was dismounting the officer kept at Ned shouting that he was under arrest for horse stealing - this startled the horse which fled, Ned turned to give chase and the officer to miss his leap.

Ned started to chase after the horse when the officer drew a gun on Ned, thinking he was attempting to flee his arrest rather than catch the beautiful horse - Ned is confused as from his perspective he has just borrowed a horse from a family friend.

At seeing the gun pointed at him Ned says "Shoot me and be damned", the officer fired and out of sheer luck the gun misfired - he attempts to shoot Ned another two times each time getting closer to the young man each time misfiring.

Before the officer can attempt a fourth shot Ned grabs the gun and wrestles the officer to the ground, before being dragged off him by several witnesses - the officer then proceeds to pistol whip Ned Kelly 5 times, leaving his face bloodied.

It turns out the that horse was in fact stolen but not by Ned Kelly, by the family friend but neither Ned nor the officer knew this at the time of this incident.

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When Ned appeared in court over the charge of horse theft, a police report dated five days after the incident occurred was used as evidence to imprison Ned.

Ned was sentenced to three years hard labour, but when the actual horse thief was captured a few weeks later his sentence was only half that of Kelly's - Ned began to realise he was being targeted by the police.

Once released Ned was determined to turn his life around, however upon his return home he learned his fourteen year old brother had been caught stealing five cows and received five years in prison as punishment - the harshest punishment ever given to someone that young.

Another officer had been watching the Kellys closely and had started a relationship with one of Ned's sisters getting her pregnant then leaving her and taking half of the families horses as well - this sister and child had both died.

In spite of all of this Ned was determined to earn an honest living, he set out to find work but found many didn't want to hire a convicted criminal - but with time he eventually earned a new reputation as a hard working level headed man, known for keeping his word.

Years had passed and still the Kelly family was being targeted by the police, being searched and raided as they always assumed any horse or cattle theft would have been done by the Kelly's.

It could be argued that most of the family's misfortunes with the law, were in fact a direct result of the squatters the Kellys had bought their land from.

The squatters had even managed to convince (pay) police to build a new police station close to the Kellys farm, the family had been receiving pressure to sell the land back to the squatters for years and had refused - now it's believed this is why Red Kelly went to prison for cattle theft just before he died, a squatter paid to have him arrested.

Ned was then accused of stealing a prize bull by two wealthy squatters only to have them recant shortly after, a few weeks later the pair returned and claimed Ned had stolen an entire herd of cattle.

This was the end of Ned Kelly attempting to lead an honest life, he now chose to be the criminal everyone suspected him to be - he proceeded to set up the largest horse and cattle thieving ring in Australia.

His plan was simple and successful, he and some friends would steal some horses than take those horses to a remote ranch - then a friend would dress as a wealthy man interested in buying the horses.

The rancher would then happily act as witness and the group would have a legal bill of sale, on an illegal group of horses or cattle - they could then in turn sell those same horses to an actual buyer and be able to provide them with a legal bill of sale.

This was not only a perfect way to feed his family, this was also the perfect way to get some revenge on the wealthy squatters that had been controlling his family's life for years.

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The Greta Mob:

When Ned was only 22 years old he was running a highly successful horse and cattle thieving ring, wealthy squatters were furious with the police's inability to catch the bushrangers responsible for their considerable loss of wealth - as for every horse Ned stole he had a legal bill of sale.

The superintendent of police issued a directive that all members of the Greta Mob, were to arrested on any charges possible and for them to be punished to the full extent of the law.

Whilst the police and the wealthy squatters despised Ned, the poor who were also subject to the cruel and often suspect discretion of the police loved Ned Kelly and his antics.

It didn't hurt that Ned often shared his ill gotten gains, with his fellow men at the pub in true Australian fashion - mind you Ned himself didn't partake in alcohol, he never forgot the impact it had on his father.

That is until September 1877 when Ned happened into a hotel bar and sat next to a young officer named Alexander Fitzpatrick, also a young man of Irish decent - Ned seemed to have a sense of kinship with the officer.

The two spent the night drinking and generally having a good time, come the next morning when Ned awoke with a splitting headache and realised he was in jail - he learned that officer Fitzpatrick had arrested him for public drunkenness outside the pub.

Ned knew something was wrong and soon realised Fitzpatrick had drugged him, Ned was furious and as Fitzpatrick attempted to cuff him - Ned made a break for it into the street.

Four police officers give chase into the street yelling at witnesses to grab him, no one had the courage to do that but one did manage to trip Ned - which sent him stumbling into a small shop.

The four officers and the shopkeep join the fray in an attempt to recapture Ned Kelly, during the scuffle one of the officers accidently pull Ned's pants to the ground - another officer saw this as an opportunity to finally stop Ned, by grabbing him by the testicles.

Thinking this would stop Ned Kelly was a mistake to say the least, this served only to enrage him - he bellows with rage then throws the officers off his back in fury.

He then proceeds to kick officer Fitzpatrick in the face so hard he is knocked unconscious, through all of this somehow the officer that had grabbed his nethers had continued to hold on - this is when the local magistrate happened upon the commotion, he is outraged by the scene before him.

Telling the officers they should be ashamed of themselves, they release Ned and he gets to compose himself allows the magistrate to arrest him and then continues to the court and pleads guilty to all charges - he paid his fines on the spot and left a free man.

Next came an arrest warrant for Dan Kelly Ned's sixteen year old brother, who had been running with the Greta Mob since the beginning - Fitzpatrick decided he would be the officer to arrest him and set off on the seventeen mile journey to do so.

Fitzpatrick arrived at the Kelly farm to arrest Dan, but when Ellen Kelly asked for a warrant he didn't have - she told him to get off her land.

Now this is where stories begin to vary, Fitzpatrick says the Ellen Kelly came after him with a shovel - whereas the Kellys maintain Fitzpatrick drew his weapon first.

Some accounts say Dan wrestled the gun from Fitzpatrick while Ned shot above Fitzpatricks head, the officer's arms flailed and a bullet grazed his wrist - Ned then helped dig out the bullet, Ellen even bandaged his wrist.

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Whilst other versions of the story not told in the cartoon below, say that Ned wasn't even present at the farm at this time and in fact was off working.

Fitzpatrick left with the Kellys believing all was fine between them, that is until later that night a drunk officer Fitzpatrick entered the home of a fellow officer and declared he had been shot at by Ned Kelly.

The news spread fast and soon it was well known that Ned Kelly was wanted for attempted murder, Ned and Dan had heard about this and fled for the bush with a couple of friends.

Ellen Kelly however had remained at the house with her children, when the police arrived they arrested Ellen Kelly with a two month old baby in her arms for the crime of swinging a shovel at an officer.

Ned and Dan learned of their mother's arrest and whilst they remained in hiding, they arranged for and paid for a lawyer for their mothers defence to no avail - Ellen Kelly was sentenced to three years hard labour.

Desperate to have their mother freed Ned and Dan even offered to give themselves up in exchange for their mothers release, but the courts would hear nothing of it.

They had no need as the police had set up large search parties to scour the bush in search of Ned Kelly, in hopes of destroying the Greta Mob by leaving it leaderless.

Once in hiding the bush Ned tracks down a search party looking for him, he not only hears them talking about killing him on sight - but their horses are also carrying special straps, that server the sole purpose of transporting dead bodies through the bush on horseback.

Ned was accompanied not only by his brother Dan Kelly, but also Steve Hart and Joe Byrne between the four of them they only had two guns that were both is bad shape - the former members of the Greta Mob watched over the police search party.

Whilst the group of four officers decided to split up, two would stay and make camp whilst the other two would go scouting - this was their fatal error.

Once they are sure the two officers scouting had departed, Ned emerged from the bush and yelled "bail up, throw up your hands."

Constable Mcintyre does as instructed and raises his hand, whilst the other officer runs to take shelter behind a log pulling his own weapon - before the officer can shoot Ned shoots first, the bullet taking the officer through the eye.

Ned had never killed a man before and approached the body, constable Mcintyre heard him wonder aloud "what made the fool run?"

Ned talks with the constable and convinces him that he doesn't want to kill him or the other officers, he just wants their horses and weapons and for the search party to return empty handed.

Mcintyre agrees to aid Ned in the other officers surrendering peacefully, however when the officers do return they are not so convinced and proceed to draw their weapons - one officer got a shot off that landed in front of Ned, Ned then shot him off his horse.

The other officer also attempts to shot Ned, but ends up fleeing through the bush for his life - during the commotion Mcintyre managed to get on a horse and escape, leaving the last officer to be killed by Ned alone.

Mcintyre fled back to town where he shared the story of Ned murdering three officers and his daring escape, this was the beginning of the Kelly Gang.

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The Kelly Gang Early Days:

A week later countless police search parties scoured over the bush in search of the deadly Kelly Gang, a group of officers search a creek bed by lantern light believing to have found footprints - after searching the swelling bank they give up and return to their camp.

Once they depart a group of four men emerge from the swollen creek with water soaked weapons that rendered them useless, this is the closest the police will ever come to catching the Kelly Gang.

Now that Ned had murdered three officers he was considered a fugitive and outlaw, the government offered a massive reward of eight thousand pounds (the equivalent to two million dollars today)for the capture of Ned Kelly dead or alive - giving the people freedom to kill Ned on sight.

But despite the massive reward (the largest ever offered in Australian history before or since) no one was willing to turn Ned Kelly or the Kelly gang into the police, instead people offered Ned shelter and aided him to hide and evade police capture.

Even misdirecting police search parties when they got to close, mind you that didn't matter much because whenever an officer happened to pick up the trail of the Kelly Gang they would generally leave in fear of Ned.

Several officers were even reprimanded for intentionally giving up chase of the Kelly Gang, the biggest issue the police faced was that Ned was gaining widespread public support - the people knew themselves that the police force was corrupt and Ned was willing to stand up to them.

The love for Ned and the Kelly Gang only grew, as Ned refused to rob from the poor and only ever sought to steal from the wealthy men that controlled his life - this was aided further by Ned paying the people who helped them, so they weren't out of pocket for the effort.

Ned had a perfect partner in his best friend Joe Byrne, a smart well dressed well spoken man that helped Ned plan the Kelly Gang's next move.

The two formed a plan to rob the bank of a small town in Euroa, firstly the gang would seize a weigh station near the train lines in order to control people entering and moving around the town.

Next the gang would burn down the telegraph station, ensuring no communications would be able to get through to police for some time.

Then finally they would rob the bank, on the 9th of December 1878, Ned Kelly rode up to the weigh station and asked the groom to take his horse - he then asked if he knew who he was, the groom replied with a laugh perhaps your Ned Kelly Ned then drew his gun and told the man he was a damn fine guesser.

Ned and the Kelly gang then proceed to round up every person they happened upon and packed them into a small shed, the women and children however were housed in the nicer station house.

They kept their hostages overnight and even sat with them to answer any questions they may have, he dispelled the rumors and set the story straight - that he only shot the officers in self defence.

The next morning the gang set about torching the telegraph station and then proceeded to rob the bank, the plan went off without problem and came away with over two thousand pounds of cash - he also burned every single record of debt the bank had on record.

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Not only burning the people's debt with the banks (the only records kept at this time) he then returned to the weigh station to free his hostages and what's more pay them for any inconvenience they experienced.

The people supported Ned Kelly, and the police force were left embarrassed on multiple occasions - one time two separate search parties even fired on each other fearing the Kelly Gang.

Humiliated the police began to arrest suspected Kelly Gang supporters, but often they arrested the wrong people which only drew in more support for the Kelly Gang - instead of turning their supporters against them it only made more people realise the corruption of the police force.

Neds support grew so much that the area they lived in was soon known as Kelly country, the countless people arrested with no real charges grew and when they went to court proceedings were delayed using every excuse possible.

Even the official prosecutor questioned the practises and when speaking out he was eventually fired, a few days later he returned to court now in support of the Kelly sympathisers.

It took 107 days to get all of the wrongly imprisoned Kelly supporters out of prison, bt given that Ned had funded their legal defence with the proceeds from the robbery at Euroa - the people loved him even more.

Whilst a large number of poor people did support Ned and the Kelly Gang, it is important to note that not all of them did - this group includes a journalist from Jerilderie who wrote an article criticising the police for not taking bank security more seriously.

He went further than just criticism alone though and explained that his local bank only had two officers guarding it, literally one month after the story was printed - four new officers arrived to guard the local bank in Jerilderie.

The government had ignored the journalists pleas, the Kelly Gang however had heard the message loud and clear - they would rob the bank here just like they did in Euroa.

This time Ned and the Gang arrived in Jerilderie found the two police officers and then locked them up in their own prison cells, then Ned and the three others took the uniforms of the officers and the four began to wander the town casing the place.

The plan was virtually the same, burn the telegraph station find a place to hold up the people (this time was a hotel) and then rob the bank.

Joe Byrne and Dan Kelly were left to guard the hotel and take any passerby's as hostage, meanwhile Ned and Steve Hart went on to rob the bank - but to their surprise they find the bank manager in the back room taking a bath.

The manager agrees at gunpoint to aid them but insists on being able to finish his bath first, Ned agrees amused by the man and assigns Steve to watch over him - Steve is less than impressed and decides to steal the bank managers watch.

Once his was finished with his bath the bank heist continues without a hitch, Ned and the Kelly Gang making another two thousand pounds and again burning all debt records within the bank.

The gang return to the hotel to buy their hostages a round of drinks, as they are about to leave Ned is made aware the bank managers watch was stolen - Ned was furious and orders Steve to return the watch to it's rightful owner.

The Kelly Gang were not seen again for another 17 months.

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The Final Chapter Of Ned Kelly And The Kelly Gang:

Joe Byrne and Dan Kelly travelled to the home of a former friend Sherritt and ally that had been secretly passing information onto the police, they had arrived not only to kill him for betraying them but also to spark the police force to chase them down.

With four officers there to guard him, they all hid as Joe Byrne shot dead his childhood friend in front of his pregnant wife and mother.

The pair then rode to rejoin Ned at Glenrowan where the real plan was waiting to be carried out, knowing that the police force would send a special unit of officers in pursuit by train - Ned had a plan to enact his revenge on the unjust police force that had plagued his life.

The Kellys knew the officers would arrive by train and so the set a trap on the train lines, on a hairpin turn the gang had removed sections of track in order to force a derailment - they would then gun down any of the survivors that emerged from the wreckage.

On top of this Ned and the other members of the Kelly Gang were clad in thick home made armour that could stop a bullet, albeit rather cumbersome it made it hard to move let alone shoot.

Neds trap was set the bait taken and now all the gang had to do was wait, just like it was with the robberies the Kelly Gang collected hostages and held them in the local inn - treating them to a night of drinks, dancing and fun in general.

The gang held the hostages through the day and into the night, then into the day again - one thing Ned hadn't planned for was the cowardice of the police officers, sent to guard their childhood friend that had turned snitch.

Night had fallen on the second day before the police train had even been sent after them, as they approached Glenrowan the train was alerted by a man signalling the train using a lantern and red scarf - the train stopped before the tracks were destroyed and the man warned the police of the waiting ambush.

It turns out this man was a former hostage of the Kelly Gang that had managed to convince the group that he was indeed a supporter of theirs and could be trusted to go home - he however raced to meet the train and warn the police instead.

The police now informed of the Kelly Gang's plans raced to surround the inn, where it is said the Kelly Gang opened fire on the approaching police force.

Both the police and the Kelly Gang opened fire on each other most of the bullets bounced harmlessly off Ned's famous home made armour, but two bullets managed to strike his hand and leg - all while hostages were still held inside the inn.

A voice rang out calling that there were women and children inside, there was a brief time of ceasefire and hostages began to file out of the inn - but when an officer thought they had heard a man's voice, they begun to fire on the inn again.

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Hostages fled back inside the inn for shelter from the hail of bullets from the police, what they had heard was a teenage boy from a family of hostages - the hostages were now too frightened to flee and remained inside the inn.

Here again details vary but what is known for sure is that during this time Ned Kelly managed to slip out of the inn for some time, he later returned but there is speculation as to what he was doing.

Some believe he fled and then regained courage to return to his brother and best friends, whilst others believed that Ned was seeking a path to revolution and that he went to warn his waiting army of farmers and the poor that their plan had been foiled.

I personally believe the latter, as there is no other logical explanation as to why Ned Kelly would abandon his family and friends at their greatest time of need only to return later.

Ned was a man of honour and courage and his family and friends had always come first, I don't believe there is anyway he would abandon his brother most of all - but even historians don't know for sure and often argue over the possibilities.

Joe Byrne had been holding down the fort in Ned's absence and when Ned returned, Joe gave a loud toast to the Kelly Gang - the police heard his voice and aimed, they struck an artery and he bled out almost instantly and died.

We know that the police shot several innocent hostages during the siege of Glenrowan some even died from their injuries, we know Joe Byrne was the first of the Kelly Gang to die.

We know that Ned left the inn and made it through through the police lines at least one time, with the assumption that he went to warn a waiting force to abandon their hopes for revolution.

We also know that during the following morning Ned Kelly emerged to make his final stand against the police that surrounded him, wearing his homemade bulletproof armour he strode toward the waiting force and opened fire - unable to hole his rifle due to being shot earlier he was only armed with his revolvers at this stage of the battle.

During this firefight Dan and Steve emerge from the inn and join in firing on the police, for over 30 minutes Ned Kelly moves towards the waiting police force with their bullets bouncing off him harmlessly.

Finally we know that after the long firefight an officer finally noticed that Neds legs were exposed and not protected by his bullet proof armour, when an officer took aim and shot at Neds legs finally leaving the revolutionary unable to move.

Ned Kelly surrendered to the police, though the officer who shot out his legs took aim to finish the job when another officer dove in front of him and said "I will shoot any damn man that dares touch him" ironically the officer had been taken hostage by the Kelly Gang the night before.

After this what we do know is that after a few more exchanges with the police Dan and Steve released the remaining hostages, at some point the remaining officers lit the inn on fire.

Again details vary on what happened here, it is impossible to know when Dan kelly and Steve Hart died - we do not know if they were already injured before the fire was started, whether they surcame to the smoke or if they died by suicide unwilling to be taken alive only to be hung.

One thing that is agreed upon by all who research this, on the day Ned Kelly was shot and injured at the siege of Glenrowan underneath his armour Ned wore the same green sash that had been given to him when he was a young boy and saved a seven year old boy from drowning - the sash in on display and his blood still stains the silken threads.

Ned got a trial not that it did him any good the jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death by hanging, in spite of a massive 10,000+ protest and a petition to have Ned pardoned with over 60,000 signatures - the government refused to overrule the death sentence.

On the 11th of November 1880 Ned Kelly was hanged at the Melbourne Gaol, it is not known for sure but it is widely believed his final words were "such is life" - Ned was only 25 years old.

Ned Kelly's death resulted in massive reforms to the judicial system and also resulted in several officers being fired and demoted, his death will always be controversial to the Australian people who see that there was more than one story to be told here.

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Here is a quick song about Ned, that he said was his favourite song based on his life.

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This is a interview with the people that made the videos featured throughout this post, they discuss some of the choices they made while making the series - it is important to note that some of the features in their story differ from the views of mainstream Ned Kelly historians.

There are many details to the story of Ned Kelly and the Kelly Gang, some we know for sure and are well documented - for instance all of the court information is well documented, as are most of the police records.

However we cannot be certain what happened when only a few witnesses were present to give an account of what happened, though when you spend time and look into the details closely you begin to learn that Ned Kelly was more than a mere bushranger - in truth he was a revolutionary ahead of his time.

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My Views On Ned Kelly:

If you have read this far I assume you probably realise I am a supporter of Ned Kelly, I believe that after years of obvious police bias and persecution of his family Ned broke - he tried to work within the law but he was still targeted by the police for crimes he didn't commit.

Ned saw and experienced injustice first hand, he lost his father to it and saw his own life slipping away in front of him and no matter what he did he was still doomed - so rather than accept his fate, he decided to stand up for himself and others like him and do something about it.

There is a mountain of information so much that I simply couldn't include, this post is already massive so I encourage you to look into things yourself - I have watched countless documentaries on Ned Kelly and still I learn new things whenever I look into his story.

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If after reading all of this you are still undecided on where you stand with Ned Kelly, I ask you to think back to what Australia would have been like in the late 1870's the general population - then ask yourself how did a bushranger from rural Victoria manage to gain over 60,000 signatures requesting his sentence be commuted and not think he was a revolutionary?

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