The following article from 1923 begins with the death of Ellen Kelly then recaps the story of the Kelly Gang as it was understood at the time. Mrs. Kelly (she had returned to using her first husband’s surname) was a … Continue reading Spotlight: Mother of the Kellys
The following article appeared in the Singleton Argus on 12 April, 1924. It has all the hallmarks of the retrospectives of the time – poetic descriptions, adherence to oral history and enough accurate information sprinkled throughout to legitimise the unsubstantiated claims in the eyes of most casual readers. Articles such as this helped to entrench much of the inaccurate information that many clung to – and in some cases still do – in order to justify their opinions of the players. Continue reading Spotlight: THE LATE AARON SHERRITT (By SIR SOLOMON.)
In 2004, right on the tail end of the last bout of Ned Kelly mania, the National Museum of Australia put together an exhibition looking at outlaws from around the world. Here are some images from that exhibition. Continue reading Spotlight: Outlawed! Rebels, Revolutionaries and Bushrangers
In the month of March, 1819, the first book published in Van Diemen’s Land was issued by Andrew Bent, editor and proprietor of ‘The Hobart Town Gazette,’ under the very hopeful and optimistic — but altogether futile — title of … Continue reading Spotlight: The Wanton Callousness of Black Michael by J. H. M. Abbott