Glenrowan > Siege | Shot | Self-guided Walk ◦
Located only 12 minutes drive south of Wangaratta, and 15 minutes from Benalla, Glenrowan is the gatekeeper of the “Ned Kelly – the bushranger” history. The township is the site of the final siege and capture of the Kelly Gang in 1880.
It was on the 28 June, 1880, when the Kelly Gang bailed up the townsfolk of Glenrowan in the Ann Jones Inn as part of their grand plan to create a Republic of North East Victoria. During the epic shoot out with the police, Ned’s brother Dan and two other gang members, Steve Hart and Joe Byrne, died. Wearing his unique hand-made armour, and in the final dramatic shootout, Ned sustained 28 gunshot wounds before finally been brought to the ground and captured. This epic story of the Glenrowan Siege has been retold countless times, and visitors to Glenrowan, with the aid of a walking trail map and a number of informative signs, can relive this major historical incidents.
Source: Tourism Victoria – Ned Kelly Touring Route
Today, visitor’s to the township can experience the era and story of Ned Kelly, his life and times, through the many wonderful attractions, museums and historic walks located around the town, as well as other locations with a Ned Kelly connection.
NED KELLY — Hanged a murderer in Melbourne, November 11, 1880 — not 26+ years old — described as a rebel, bushranger by necessity, bush battler, underdog, sometimes gentleman, sometimes larrikin and a man with a strong sense of family.
Extracts – Ian Jones – Last Outlaw
In a country born of brutal convict settlement — the Kellys’ were one of many to suffer the English notions of class distinction, property and land tenure and Anglo-Irish hatreds. With the continued persecution of his family by the police, Ned fought back. The donning of armour made from plough mould boards here at Glenrowan, June 1880, made Ned Kelly an Australian Legend.
“He has lost much blood and gone two nights without sleep, he is borne down by the weight of armour. The air is still, the earth icy, the mists of dawn just hang. This is the moment of history, Kelly might have escaped here. Having witnessed the death of Joe Byrne from massive haemorrhage from a bullet to the groin – most men would have given up here, if not before. Instead Kelly went back to rescue his brother and Steve Hart.
Armed, he lurches through the mist, hulking, swaying, clanging taunting – the Legend is born.
Freezing police crouch behind trees and logs. Constable Arthur see kelly first and fires.
The Last Stand has begun.”
Anne Jones Inn
Ann Jones was the proprietress of the Glenrowan Inn that was unfortunately at the heart of the siege of Glenrowan, June 1880. Ann Jones attempted to build a life for herself at Glenrowan, after a failed business in Wangaratta. Things were looking up for this working class woman, Anne Jones when she started the Glenrowan Inn, but by the end of the June 1880, her home and business lay in ruins. Check out our Footnote & References for information about the life of Ann Jones.
Footnote & References
- The story of Ann Jones, Ned Kelly and the Glenrowan Inn, Time Gents, Australian Pub Project, https://timegents.com/2020/01/19/the-untold-story-of-mrs-jones-ned-kelly-and-the-glenrowan-inn/
- A doomed business: the material culture of Ann Jones and the Glenrowan Inn by Sarah Hayes, Australasian Historical Archaeology, 32, 2014, http://www.asha.org.au/pdf/australasian_historical_archaeology/32_04_Hayes.pdf
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