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When Ned was fourteen years of age he joined up with Harry
Power, a noted bushranger and outlaw. He acted merely as a look-out for
Power and from him Ned learned the secrets of surviving while 'on the
run'. His career as an outlaw had begun. In 1870 Ned, at the age of fifteen,
got three months in jail for assault. In August 1871 he got three years
for being in the possession of a stolen horse. After his release in 1874
he worked in the sawmills for three years, staying out of trouble all
that time. But he still had the reputation for leading a wild and reckless
life and he was a noted horseman and boxer . After three trouble free
years -and for reasons unknown, Ned returned to a life of crime. He formed
his first 'gang' in late 1876 and they engaged in much horse and cattle
stealing. By this time, members of his own family and various relations
- the Quinns and the Lloyds (brothers-in-law) had convictions ranging
from drunk and disorderly, arson, cattle rustling to violent assault.
The Kelly's claims of police persecution were countered by conviction
after conviction on the substantial charges brought against them. Harsh
the sentences may have been but the crimes were undoubtedly real as well.
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In person, Ned Kelly aged 23 was an imposing figure, six
feet tall with an athletic build. He sported an "old fashioned" beard
-full and bushy. He looked older than his years and dressed well and soberly
for a bushranger, most of whom favoured a flamboyant style of dress. In
all, his respectable almost biblical appearance was at variance with his
'chosen lifestyle'. In October 1878 Ned's mother Ellen Kelly was sentenced
to three years hard labour for attempting to murder a policeman -a charge
vehemently denied by the Kelly Clan. It was the sentencing of his mother,
with a small baby at her breast, that finally sent Ned into a rage against
the Law -a Law which he regarded as crooked and oppressive. Ned and his
gang were at this time being sought by the police. The gang comprised
of, himself, his younger brother Dan Kelly, Steve Hart and Joseph Byrne
and rewards of £100 each had been offered for the capture of Dan and Ned
Kelly. A team of four policemen -Lanigan, Scanlon, Kennedy and Mclntyre
-all Irish, were trailing the Kelly Gang when Ned turned the tables on
them. He ambushed them at Stringybark Creek, near the town of Mansfield,
on 28th October 1878 and killed three of them. Only Mclntyre escaped to
tell what had happened. The Public reaction was one of outraged alarm.
The area was flooded with police reinforcements and by December 1878 a
hundred mounted police were engaged in the Kelly pursuit. The Kellys were
outlawed and the reward was raised to a £1,000 each for the capture of
the four -and then raised again to £2,000. Instead of going to ground
in the face of such strong official reaction, Ned Kelly boldly seized
the initiative once again and carried out an amazingly daring bank raid
in the township of Euroa on 9th December 1878. During the raid they seized
the local railway station, imprisoned all there and stayed overnight.
Next day they robbed the bank, taking twelve more prisoners and then took
them back to the station and locked them up also. The priosners reported
that they had been treated well.
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