‘Such is life.’- Ned Kelly’s final words before
execution.
Ned Kelly remains a
controversial figure in Australia; was he a murderer ( his gang murdered three
police officers and an informer) or was he a Robin Hood character? More books have been written about him than
any other Australian and three movies (one starring Mick Jagger, another
starring Heath Ledger) have been made about the Kelly Gang.
I can proudly say
that my two Irish great, great uncles, Thomas and Richard Lawless, as members of
the Victorian Mounted Police, were involved in the hunt for the Ned Kelly gang. The
two brothers were not at the final
shootout at Glenrowan but they were in the police parties hunting for the gang.
The two brothers had emigrated to Melbourne in the early
1860’s with their mother and siblings (including my great grandmother) from Castlecomer, Kilkenny, Ireland. The
family had barely survived the Irish Famine and were keen to start a new life
in Australia.
Thomas and
Richard, from an early age, were renowned for their riding skills and both
joined the Victorian police force where they became horse breakers at Richmond
Barracks in Melbourne.
The police hunt through the Wombat Ranges.
After the murder of three police officers at Stringybark
Creek by the Kelly Gang in October 1878, Superintendent Francis Augustus Hare assembled a group of police officers to head to the town of Benalla in North East Victoria to capture the Kelly Gang. The Lawless
brothers were picked to be part of the contingent, because of their riding
skills.
Hare remains a controversial figure also. He was an unpopular character and
notorious self- promoter. Augustus Hare would later write an account of his
hunt for the Kelly Gang called, The Last of the Bushrangers. Hare was at the final shootout at Glenrowan and
was wounded in the hand.
In Benalla, acting on a tip-off by an informer, Hare
and three men (including Thomas Lawless) went undercover at the Whorouly race
meeting. Whorouly was a small town near Benalla. The informer had told Hare that the Kelly Gang
would be at the meeting. The police officers mingled with the crowd and in the
case of Thomas Lawless, set up a table and performed card tricks for the
punters.
After performing card tricks for some time, Lawless
decided to enter one of the races hoping to get a better view of the
racecourse. Lawless rode in the race and won it! Of course. It was the only exciting event
that happened to the police that day.
Aided by their many sympathisers, The Kelly
Gang did not make an appearance at the racecourse. Apparently, they had
watched the races from a hill at the rear of the racecourse. To be continued….
