I have been in Victoria for the last ten days, touring some favourite old spots and exploring some new ground that I have always wanted to see but never got around to finding. For anyone with a hankering for touring North-Eastern Victoria then a visit to Benalla would do you no harm at all. It’s a lovely little spot on the Broken River, situated on the old Hume Highway and only a short hop off the newer Hume Freeway which by-passes the town.
Of course much of the story of our most famous folk-hero and infamous outlaw, Ned Kelly, is focused around Benalla. He lived a relatively short distance from the town and was well known (ahem) in the district. There was a famous brawl in the main street with four police officers who tried to bring him under control by “blackballing” him, a term which was used by the constabulary at the time for grabbing a recalcitrant criminal by the testicles in order to bring him to bay. Unfortunately for Constable Thomas Lonigan, the officer who perpetrated this act of law and order on young Mr Kelly, it was dismal failure and the four officers do seem to have come off worse for wear from the encounter, Kelly finally agreeing to be handcuffed by the local bootmaker who ushered him peacefully into custody.
Ned Kelly suffered pain from this “blackballing” for the rest of his short life and roared at Constable Lonigan that if he was ever to kill a man then he, Lonigan, would be the first. This prediction, tragically for both men, would come true, Constable Thomas Lonigan being the first officer shot dead by Kelly at Stringybark creek some time later, a crime for which he would answer for at the end of a rope.
Also at Benalla is a historical museum, housing various artifacts from days gone by and a very nice gallery featuring photos, mementos and belongings of “Weary” Dunlop, the legendary doctor of the Burma to Thailand Railway and one of Australia’s greatest war heroes who grew up in the town.
It struck me as a little incongruous that a man like Dunlop, a true hero in every sense of the word, would have to share space in this museum with Edward “Ned” Kelly, a man who for some is the quintessential Australian folk-hero and for others nothing more than a black-hearted criminal not deserving of respect or recognition.
I’m not going to get into that argument, there are plenty of history books which go to those places, but the Benalla Historical Museum does have an artifact which once belonged to Ned Kelly and is beyond doubt quite evocative and poignant. It’s Ned’s famous green sash.
Anyone who knows the Kelly story will be aware that Ned spent some of his youth in Avenel. It’s where his father died and where things began to go south for young Ned and his family. Ned was known even then for being a bit of a scallywag but when he was ten years old he showed something of the courage and strength that would one day make him the most feared, reviled and famous man in Australian history.
The Shelton family were well to do folk who ran the local pub at Avenel. Dick Shelton, one of the young brood who lived at the pub was making his way home from school and was crossing the creek at Avenel when he fell into the stream which had been bolstered by days of heavy rain. There are several different stories about how exactly young Shelton fell in but what is in no doubt is that young Ned Kelly saw him in the water and, without hesitation and at great personal risk dived in and pulled him out, an act of bravery which greatly impressed the Shelton’s and one for which they were eternally grateful.
Mr Shelton, wanting to reward the young man who had saved his son’s life asked young Ned if there was anything he could get him as a mark of gratitude for his magnificent effort. Ned replied that he wanted nothing so Mr Shelton, off his own bat bought and presented Ned with a two metre long cummerbund, tasseled at either end which has become known as Ned Kelly’s Green Sash which now has pride of place at Benalla’s Historical Museum.
One can only wonder what ten year old Ned Kelly though of this gift but it obviously meant a great deal to him. Fifteen years later, on a cold and foggy morning in June 1880, Ned Kelly found himself in another fight for his life. Wearing fifty kilograms of homemade iron armour, wounded by gunfire from head to toe and delirious from loss of blood, he engaged a dozen police officers in a half hour battle by himself in an effort to rescue his brother Dan and friend Steve Hart from the invested Glenrowan Inn. The same courage and strength which he displayed at Avenel as a boy was again on display, albeit in very different and unfortunate circumstances. This time it was all to no avail. Ned Kelly was brought down and captured and was very nearly executed on the spot by police officers who had taken a vow to uphold the law. When he was dragged, defeated into the Glenrowan railway station as the battle continued unabated, his armour was stripped off him so as his wounds could be assessed. Around his waist he wore the long green sash, bloodstained and dirty and it was quickly souvenired by the doctor attending him, a mercenary act which did the doctor no honour.
Doctor Nicholson’s grand-daughter later donated the sash to the Benalla Museum where it resides to this day, still as dirty and bloodstained as it was the day it was torn from Ned Kelly’s waist, lost forever to it’s doting and proud owner.
As I said before, I am not going to get into the rights and wrongs of the Kelly story. Ned Kelly paid for his crimes in full. But he remains an important part of Australian history and that is only fair and right.
The sash itself is in quite good condition as you can see from my photo and one can only imagine how bedazzled a ten year old boy was when he received it or wonder how a twenty five year old outlaw felt about it as he was brought to justice. It was obviously his most prized possession. Why was he wearing it at Glenrowan? We will never know.
The sash is a powerful reminder of one of our greatest stories and that the man who made the legend was a flesh and blood human being like the rest of us. Maybe the sash gave Ned Kelly comfort as he faced the police at his last stand. Perhaps it was a signal beacon, showing there was still some decency deep in his soul. It is a outstanding piece of Australian history and I encourage all Australians to make an effort to view it if they are ever in the vicinity.
Oh, and young Dick Shelton lived until he was seventy-seven. He for one was very happy to have once known Australia’s most infamous outlaw.
Have a nice day.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 