The Noisy Introvert: Poor Ned, You're Better off Dead

Ned Kelly

"Poor Ned, You're better off dead, at least you'll get some peace of miiiiiiind...."

Well. Um, not so far.

The argey-bargey regarding the human remains of Ned Kelly has gone from mysterious to manic now that his skeleton has been formally identified. The law who had such a strong hold on his life shall now dictate where he will lie in death.

In 2009 archeologists exhumed, documented and removed from the old Pentridge Prison site, human remains from a large massed grave to the State Coroner for examination and potential identification. Collective community breath was held for over 2 years whilst the boxes of skeletal material underwent extensive testing, sorting, cataloguing and further documentation. Local myth has long held that Ned Kelly could be amongst the material there and so the opportunity was taken to submit the skeletons to extensive DNA testing to be sure.

This was all headline news only five months ago when the State Coroners struck mythology gold. Indeed one of the three skeletons, an almost complete person, was found to be that of Ned Kelly. Eureka! Tantalisingly, the missing skull (stolen from the Old Melbourne Gaol in 1978) which had been handed in (the "Baxter skull) was found not to be that of Kelly, so while we have headless-Ned actually here with us now, the mystery and intrigue continues yet. The fat lady hasn't yet warmed up, let alone sung. You couldn't write this stuff. Truth is way better than fiction in the Ned Kelly saga, now spanning three centuries. It feels a bit like the end of a drama series with a cliff hanger finish to take us to the next set of plotlines. "Whitechapel" eat your heart out.

So now we're much further down the path to resolution than we were 12 months ago. This week the latest dispute is between the Kelly Family and the site Developers at Pentridge Prison.

The Dig at Pentridge Prison

Since the identity confirmation of the exhumed remains last year, the descendants of the Kelly family have been gathering to discuss what to do with their famous relation. There obviously has also been much media interest with a documentary having been made, "Ned's Head", amongst other interview and many newspaper articles etc. This is certainly in the limelight.

Ned Kellys Skeleton.

So where are we now? Well, apparently, in fact, no-one actually "owns" the remains. Heritage Victoria has recently explained that the permit issued to allow the bones to be removed from Pentridge and travel to the State Coroners Office for tests, has the condition that the material is to be returned to the place of origin for burial. Ie back at Pentridge. This is one of the standard conditions under which the permit was issued and is legally binding.

The Kelly Family Trust have been getting everyone together to collectively decide their wishes for the remains. They hope that Ned can go back to the country town of Greta and finally lie to rest with his mother in the local Greta Cemetery.

Beautiful "Kelly Country" in Northern Victoria

So will Ned be have to be buried back at Pentridge or can the familys wishes be considered? At the moment the Pentridge site developers might demand that the conditions of the permit are carried out. There will be a location at the site to acknowledge the dead criminals buried there, the history of that place in a sensitive and appropriate manner. But yet the family have requests that should be considered also. The good news is that there is a recent precedent for this situation which you can see more clearly from the timeline below.

Two sets of remains from the diggings at Pentridge and the Old Melbourne Gaol have been retunred to the current families of the buried. The first has seen Colin Ross posthumously cleared for his deed, and his remains returned to his descendants upon their request.

Ronald Ryan

The second is slightly more relevant. When Ronald, "the-last-man-hanged-in-Victoria" Ryan met his end in 1961 he was buried in the grounds of Pentridge as was still standard practice. His remians were exhumed in 2007 and under the same permit system dictating the Kelly remains, his remains were sent to the Coroners Office for DNA testing where they were indeed confirmed to be that of Ryan. An exception was made for the permit and the remains were handed over to the Ryan family in 2008. There is much pressure for this precedent to also be considered when the family request to have the remains of Ned Kelly returned to them. I understand that this has not occured yet, but will will most likely happen. The Ryan decision is more relevant than the Ross case as the latter was cleared of all deeds. Ronald Ryan and Ned Kelly did committ the crimes they were for. At the moment if there is a clash of wills in the next chapter the courts might yet decide the outcome. I hope its short and sharp process whichever way the outcome falls.

Here's a brief timeline.

Background

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1820 - John "Red" Kelly born in Ireland near Tipperary.

1840 - Red Kelly convicted of stealing two pigs to the value of £6 and sentenced to transportation

1841 - Red Kelly sails for Van Diemens land on the "Prince Regent"

1842 - Red arrives in Hobart.

1845 - Red granted his ticket of leave.

1850 - Married Ellen Quinn in Melbourne.

1851 - Goldrush officially starts.

1855 - Ned Kelly Born

For the story of Ned Kelly's life look up the zillions of articles and books. Ian Jones is the long accepted expert in the field although some details are now being challenged.

1865 - Red Kelly dies.

1880 - Ned Kelly Hanged

1922 - Colin Ross convicted of the "Gun Alley Murder" and hanged at Old Melbourne Gaol.

1920's - Closure of Old Melbourne Gaol.

1929 - Work to the Working Men's College next door to Old Melbourne Gaol (Now RMIT) exposed graves.

1929 - All remains of executed inmates that could be located were removed to Pentridge and re-interred in mass graves (30 sets of remains)

1929 - Argus reports discovery of Ned Kelly's grave and siezing of bones by schoolboys.

1937 - 4 burials from hospital grounds Old Melbourne Gaol transferred to Pentridge.

1967 - Ronald Ryan Hanged.

1960s - Drainage pipes installed at pentridge (possible re-location of bodies to mass grave Pit C).

1978 - Skull stolen from Old Melb Gaol, rumoured to be that of Ned Kelly.

1999 - Pentridge Prison site sold by the State Government.

2002 - Archaeologists from La Trobe Uni working at Old Melbourne Gaol unearth an intact coffin buried against bluestone walk the area the former Gaol hospital. This triggers the archeological investigations of prisoner burials at both the old Melbourne Gaol and Pentridge Prison.

2006 - Archaeological testing of Pentridge cemetery site, to define number and locations of burials approved

2006 - One burial discovered in Pentridge Cemetery site and believed to be that of Ronald Ryan.

2006 - Further grave sites are located of the 9 prisoners buried at pentridge 32 - 51 and a single mass grave believed to be the 4 re-located from OMG in 1937.

2008 - Exhumation of discovered sites approved for remains' identification purposes.

2008 - Ronald Ryans remains are DNA matched and returned to the family.

2008 - Forensic evidence on Colin Ross' remains discredit the police investigation. He is given a posthumous pardon.

2009 - Tom Baxter hands in the 1978 stolen skull to the Coroner (known as the "Baxter Skull"

2009 - Further boxes uncovered at Pentridge excavation site, another mass grave. (Pit C). Thought to be the original 1929 OMG mass grave re-locations.

2010 - Remains of Colin Ross are identified and handed back to the family.

2011 - Report is released on the findings.

* the Baxter Skull is not that of Ned Kelly, but of Frank Deeming.

* DNA of the Great grandson of Ned Kelly's sister matches the remains in one of the axe boxes found in Pit C. The skeleton is 95% complete.

Cue the song.