True History of the Kelly Gang

Based on the adventures of the Kelly Gang and surviving writings of Ned Kelly, Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang is a novel posing as historical manuscripts written by the Australian folk hero. From innocent beginnings to a life of crime reminiscent of Robin Hood, Ned details his story in 13 sections. University of Queensland Press first published the novel in 2000.

As the story opens, Ned Kelly is describing his father, John "Red" Kelly. John was an Irishman who was sent to prison in Australia then settled in the colony of Victoria. There, he met and married Ellen, and the pair moved to a rural town called Avenel. John has several run-ins with local law enforcement and eventually dies in prison when Ned is 12.

After their patriarch's death, the family takes advantage of the Land Grant Act and moves to northeast Victoria, where Ellen begins running a shebeen, or illegal bar, to support the family.



Through several love affairs, Ellen meets Harry Power. Harry is a bushranger, a former convict who hides out in the bush and makes money robbing coaches. Ellen pushes Ned into an apprenticeship with Harry, and he's introduced to the skills of a bushranger: living off the land, how to steal and where to hide out.

Despite Harry's influence, Ned returns to his family and attempts living honestly. Ned is forced into a life of crime, however, when a friend of his sells him a stolen horse. Ned is sentenced to three years in prison for accepting the stolen property.

Upon leaving prison, Ned begins working at a sawmill. Two years in, a drifter steals his herd of horses.



Constable Alex Fitzpatrick, a policeman with many mistresses, begins turning up around Ellen's house attempting to court Ned's sister. Ned is aware of Fitzpatrick's conquests and makes the affairs known to his family. Ellen threatens Fitzpatrick, and Fitzpatrick pulls a gun. Ned shoots Fitzpatrick in the hand before he can fire a shot. Ned dresses the man's wound, and Fitzpatrick seems regretful, but the next day he puts out warrants for Ned and his brother Dan's arrest.

Ned and Dan run to the bush. Hiding in the hills northeast of Victoria, they form a gang with their friends Joe Byrne and Steve Hart. They call themselves the Kelly Gang.

Unable to capture Ned and Dan, the police throw Ellen and her baby in prison, hoping to draw the Kelly Gang out to no avail. The Gang ambushes and murders three of four officers sent to kill them.



The Kelly Gang survives by robbing banks and giving part of the money to the poor settlers that assist them. Sharing their gains makes them popular among the under-represented, impoverished people of Australia.

Ned, on one such raid, meets Mary Hearn, a young Irish mother who has borne a child by Ned's stepfather. Ned and Mary have a romantic relationship, and Mary becomes pregnant. She and her son leave Australia for San Francisco where Ned's daughter is later born.

In Glenrowan, the police manage to corner the Gang. The Gang creates sets of heavy, steel armor for themselves and take hostages, one of which is Thomas Curnow. Thomas is a schoolteacher who takes an interest in Ned's writings, but later warns police officers that the Gang has sabotaged the train rails.



Ned's narrative is taken over by an unknown "SC" as the shootout ensues. One by one each of the Kelly Gang members dies, save Ned who is severely wounded.

Thomas is able to save Ned's writings, providing the material for the book. Historically, we know that Ned was hanged for his crimes after being captured during the shootout.

Carey took pains to give the novel an authentic feel. The condition of the fictional manuscripts precedes each of the 13 sections of the book. Ned's writing is that of a lower-class, uneducated man and lacks punctuation, but is filled with Irish terms and phrases. Carey likely fashioned the writing style after one of Kelly's surviving pieces, The Jerilderie Letter, which was dictated by Kelly to Joe Byrne in 1879. The original document defends the Kelly Gang's movements, including the murder of the three policemen. It blames Ned's foray into crime on a corrupt police force and limited options for Australia's poor.



Carey's novel differs from historical accounts in a few ways, one of which is the creation of Mary Hearn. Ned is not known to have had any love interests or fathered any children. Likewise, the relationship between Ned's mother and the bushranger Harry Power has no basis in reality, though Harry Power was a real person and Ned was his accomplice at one time.

The novel was well-received and won many awards, including the Colin Roderick Award for Best Australia Book, the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards Best Fiction Book, and the Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction.

Variations of the Kelly Gang's story have appeared in several forms of media, including The Story of the Kelly Gang in 1906, which is considered the world's first feature-length film.