Jerilderie Letter

The handwritten document known as the Jerilderie Letter was dictated by Australian bushranger Ned Kelly to fellow Kelly Gang member Joe Byrne in 1879. It is one of only two original Kelly letters known to have survived.

The Jerilderie Letter is a 56-page document of approximately 8,000 words. In the letter Kelly tries to justify his actions, including the murder of three policemen in October 1878 at Stringybark Creek. He describes cases of alleged police corruption and calls for justice for poor families.

It is a longer and more detailed version of the Cameron/Euroa Letter which Kelly sent to a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly and the police in December 1878.

The document is named after the town of Jerilderie, New South Wales, where the Kelly Gang carried out an armed robbery in February 1879 during which Kelly tried to have his document published as a pamphlet. It was first called the 'Jerilderie Letter' by author Max Brown in his 1948 biography of Kelly, Australian Son.

Two copies were made of Ned Kelly's letter, one by publican John Hanlon and one by a government clerk. Only summaries of its contents were published during Kelly's lifetime: it was not published in full until 1930. The original and both handwritten copies have survived.

Edward (Ned) Kelly was born in Victoria, Australia, around 1855. As a teenager he was in trouble with the police and was arrested several times and served time in prison.

In mid-1878, following his mother's imprisonment on perjured police evidence and feeling that the police were harassing him, Kelly took to bushranging with his brother, Dan, Joe Byrne, and Steve Hart. They became known as the Kelly Gang.

After the Kelly Gang shot dead three policemen at Stringybark Creek in Victoria in October 1878 they were declared outlaws. Reacting to the killings, the Victorian Government enacted the Felons' Apprehension Act 1878 which authorised any citizen to shoot a declared outlaw on sight. A substantial reward was offered for each member of the Kelly Gang, 'dead or alive'.

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