Bushrangers: Outlaws and legends
Bushranger stories span different people, places and decades. Ned Kelly’s gang and the Lachlan Valley groups associated with Ben Hall and Frank Gardiner became some of the best-known outlaw stories in colonial Australia. Their histories combine bank and property robberies, police pursuit and dramatic endings that later helped shape the Kelly legend.
The Kelly gang and Glenrowan
Edward “Ned” Kelly was born in 1854. After years of conflict with police, he fled into the bush in 1878 with his brother Dan and associates Joe Byrne and Steve Hart. The gang was outlawed after killing three Victorian policemen that year. Over the following two years it robbed banks and evaded capture in north-east Victoria, where struggling small farmers’ sympathy for the gang complicated the pursuit.
In June 1880, police cornered the gang at the Glenrowan Inn. The gang wore improvised armour made from plough parts during the siege of 27–28 June. Ned Kelly left the inn overnight, then returned the next morning to help his companions. Police brought him down with wounds to his unprotected legs and captured him. Dan Kelly, Steve Hart and Joe Byrne died during the siege. Kelly’s loyalty to his companions and refusal to surrender helped create the legend that grew around his life.
Ben Hall and the Lachlan bushrangers
During the 1860s, groups led by Ben Hall and Frank Gardiner ranged through the Lachlan Valley in central-western New South Wales. The region’s remote country and modest cattle holdings formed the setting for a series of hold-ups. At Goimbla, near Eugowra, Hall, John Gilbert and John O’Meally attacked the Campbell homestead in November 1863. A two-hour battle ended with O’Meally shot dead.
Hall was shot by police near Goobang Creek, close to Forbes, on 5 May 1865. Gilbert died a few days later near Binalong, and John Dunn was later captured and hanged. These endings helped make outlaw groups lasting figures in Australian storytelling, while their histories remain grounded in particular communities, police actions and violent crimes.
Following the stories across Australia
Explore Australian history and life and culture for more context on the colonial period. The landscapes of inland New South Wales are introduced in Australia’s landscapes and climate.
Original contribution: Dieter Tischendorf, Und immer weiter zur Sonne.
