The Stringybark Creek police murders

Ned Kelly
Kelly the day before his execution
Born	December 1854 Beveridge, Victoria, Australia
Died	11 November 1880 (aged 25) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation	Bushranger
Criminal penalty	Death
Criminal status	Executed by hanging
Parent(s)	John "Red" Kelly (1820–1866) Ellen Kelly (née Quinn) (1832–1923)
Conviction(s)	Murder, assault, theft, armed robbery

Edward "Ned" Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police murderer. Recognised as the last and most famous of the bushrangers, he is best-known for wearing a self-made suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout with the police.

Kelly was born in the British colony of Victoria as the third of eight children to an Irish convict from County Tipperary and an Australian mother with Irish parentage. His father died shortly after serving a six-month prison sentence, leaving Kelly, then aged 12, as the eldest male of the household. The Kellys were a poor selector family who saw themselves as downtrodden by the Squattocracy and as victims of police persecution. While still a teenager, Kelly was arrested for associating with bushranger Harry Power, and had numerous run-ins with the law as a member of the "Greta mob", a group of bush larrikins known for stock theft. He was convicted of receiving a stolen horse in 1871 and sentenced to three years imprisonment. A violent confrontation with a policeman occurred at the Kelly family's home in 1878, and Kelly was indicted for his attempted murder. Fleeing to the bush, Kelly vowed to avenge his mother, who was imprisoned for her role in the incident. After he, his brother Dan, and two associates—Joe Byrne and Steve Hart—fatally shot three policemen, the Government of Victoria proclaimed them outlaws.

Kelly and his gang eluded the police for two years, thanks in part to the support of an extensive network of sympathisers. The gang's crime spree included armed bank robberies at Euroa and Jerilderie, and the killing of Aaron Sherritt, a sympathiser turned police informer. In a manifesto letter, Kelly—denouncing the police, the Victorian government and the British Empire—set down his own account of the events leading up to his outlawry. Demanding justice for his family and the rural poor, he threatened dire consequences against those who defied him. In 1880, when Kelly's attempt to derail and ambush a police train failed, he and his gang, dressed in armour they had crafted from plough mouldboards, engaged in a final gun battle with the police at Glenrowan. Kelly, the only survivor, was severely wounded by police fire and captured. Despite thousands of supporters attending rallies and signing a petition for his reprieve, Kelly was tried, convicted and sentenced to death by hanging, which was carried out at the Old Melbourne Gaol. His last words are famously reported to have been "".