At left is my newly published book 'back and front' cover. 'The Ned Kelly narrative lacks historical accuracy from the outset. Political figures aim to erase the underlying causes of the 1880s Kelly outbreak, leading to a skewed version of history. -- -- -- This book was born from over 40 years of  fascination, delves into Ned's story and my own, rooted in what is considered to be close to the absolute truth'. 14 chapters of fascination that question how certain recorded aspects of colonial history need review. To order your copy please follow this link. You can read a revue by Sharon Hollongsworth 'in the USA' at the Eleven Mile Creek webpage here or below

Last week Mrs Kelly, mother of Ned Kelly, died in Victoria.  Shortly before her death she was interviewed by a representative of ‘Smith’s Weekly’.  Throughout a long life her actions and views were governed by an hereditary bias of revolt due to her birth.  In the course of the interview she unconsciously showed that this influence subsisted to the last.

<Related site>

Eleven Mile Creek is where the Kelly homestead stood near Greta West. Sharon Hollingsworth and Brian Stevenson present news, views, nuggets and musings, some serious, some lighthearted but all to do with all things associated with Ned Kelly and the gang.

                                                                                                                 Background images are of 1/3rd scale model replicas of Kelly Gang iron helmets for sale direct from the maker


 

The Kennedy Tree Report Team got together after one of its members thought he had found a tree with a striking resemblance to a tree in an old photograph where Sgt Kennedy's body was found in Oct 1878. As most if not all trees of any value in the area were logged up to the late 1940s, there would seem little chance of the Kennedy tree being saved when we know the same saw millers took out the Kelly tree where Cnst. Scanlan was shot.

Dan Kelly Outlaw: This E book is a must read, 'The Memiors of Daniel Kelly' Click here http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks13/1305481h.html   supposed to have been slain in the famous siege at Glenrowan. This book was originally published in 1911 only 33 years after the Kelly outbreak. It was re transcribed and edited by Ambrose Pratt in 1926 from an original brittle aged copy. I urge all readers to read Chap1 and 5, and if you would like a printable copy as a MS Word File let me know as I was given such by a claimed descendant of 'Dan Kelly'.

Read the BENALLA ENSIGN NEWS  24th June 2020 by SIMON RUPPERT

Click on images to enlarge

Much has recently been made of metal detecting near the base of a tree (by me), with the objective to help prove or disprove the validity of a particular tree identified by a group of local researchers known as the Kennedy Tree Group,( KTG ) however, here is a report from 2004 when another group led by Bill to metal detect the site of the two huts. The supporting report was written by Dave White for website Iron Outlaw - Dave had a series of articles The White Stuff.  Click on image to enlarge-

                                                                                                                                                                                            This is Dan Kelly's helmet
                          
                 

Stringybark Creek News-updates,  After four years,13th May 2008, Jeremy Smith of Heritage Victoria gives the go ahead to list the Kelly sites at Stringy bark Ck, Kellys Ck, on the Victorian Heritage register. Since that time nothing has been done to undertake any proper archaeological work to verify the sites. In March 2014, Bill and Leo Kennedy identify a most likely spot where his G Grandfather Sergeant Kennedy was murdered .

Latest       at top

What do these three links have incommon?  Leo Kennedy's book Black Snake,  new signage at SBC, and the Lawless program on  Ned Kelly? They're each misleading the real locations of the police camp site and where the police were shot dead, all aimed to pull the wool over your - visitors eyes. What a lot of BS

Ned Kelly: Villain or Victim? Steve Hodder It will be 139 years this year since notorious bushranger Ned Kelly was hanged in a Victorian prison for the murder of police constable Thomas Lonigan. At recent police remembrance services, Kelly has again been branded a psychopath but who, asks STEVE HODDER, were the real villains in the tale of Australian history’s most famous outlaw?   Note; thumbnail left shows Dan Kelly's helmet !

Related       Kelly sites     < pro or con >

Ned Kelly: The True Story   Admin David says,  I am sure that most "Pro Kelly" people are NOT afraid of debate and challenge and critical review of Kelly history, and would NOT support the action of the small fringe of Kelly bullies and thought forum Police who intrude on every discussion about Ned Kelly with the intent of shutting it down censoring it and stifling debate.  Unfortunately however such a fringe DOES exist and no doubt will attempt to derail THIS Forum as well. Link to 'Bill is Right about Stringybark Creek'

                                        

                                       Background images are of 1/3rd scale model replicas of  Kelly Gang iron helmets for sale direct  from the maker.   An authentic piece of Australiana that makes a great gift for any history student.

 

Sue Rabbitt Rolf studied and taught at Melbourne and Monash Universities. Her recent writings on cultural aspects of settler colonial Australia have been published in Meanjin, Overland, the Conversation, the Independent and on Pearls & Irritations.  In her comprehensive article Ned Kelly  the man with the iron head - is a well considered question in regards breathing while within the 10kg iron helmet as Ned had done for several hours prior to his capture at Glenrowan.

Kelly gang helmet armour, 1/3rd scale replica is of Ned's helmet.  Each of the Kelly gang's helmets have been replicated and are available as a collectable set. These models are very close to the originals in detail and each exhibit all the nuances of blacksmiths work. They are authentic in every detail and may never again be reproduced in sets of four. In this page we also analyze ' who may have made the amours' simply by the study of design features and plenty of conjecture.

A recent photo reported to be the members of the 'Kelly gang' was put up for auction. It sold for $16k. My first reaction to the photos authenticity with faces so poorly detailed they could be almost any group of young men of the time? But added the fact the names penned in at the bottom overlapped the mismatched oval picture mount, proves this was a copy of a copy. I gave the photo thumbs down for auction but think fellow researcher Capt Jack Hoyle has identified these characters each with a pipe in their mouths as a huge joke, you be the judge.

Recent photos?

Is this Ned ? Direct descendant of Ellen Kelly King, - Elsie Pettifer thought this photo was of her father Walter Knight, but this throws doubts for it to be Ned? The photo of railway sleeper cutters is being promoted by Kelly family members as  Ned Kelly just after he came out of gaol in 1874. If it is Ned it could be worth millions, so a lot is riding on proper verifications. Unfortunately the photo is a copy of an original that has been lost. See a picture of Walter Knight for comparison.

Ned Kelly Centre 2003. The Penleigh Boyd and Bill Denheld Ned Kelly Centre proposal of 2003. Our aim was to produce a bold, gimmick free, truly Australian building. It should be modern, minimal, timeless in style and straightforward. It should not be distracting, stylized or a pastiche of the 1880's.

Ned         Kelly       Centre  developments     but when?

Ned Kelly Centre 2015. This Facebook page is headed by Joanne Griffiths- whose vision for a Ned Kelly Centre is in the planning as a place for an unbiased tribute to a family and the community of the North East of Victoria, and its remarkable place in Australian history. It does not matter what you believe of Ned Kelly, he himself said:  "Let the hand of the law strike me down it if it will, but I ask that my story be heard and considered".

Update 14 Dec 2012. The latest research where Sergeant Kennedy died. Germans or Stringybark Ck ?  Sergeant Kennedy was the officer in charge of the Mansfield police party to hunt for the Kelly brothers. Following the fatal shootout with the Kelly gang at StringyBark Ck  ( SBC) where two police were killed, the Sergeants body was not found till five days later some 800 meters away from the police camp. We have to decide which side of the creek ?This research reports on the quest to find the area using all recorded information. *

HTAV, the History Teachers Association of Victoria,  Journal  'Agora  magazine, has published - The Politics of Ned  by Bill Denheld Title 'What links did Ned Kelly and his associates have with the republican and Federation movements in nineteenth-century Victoria'?

Stuart Dawson asks the question, It has long been widely, even admiringly, held that Ned Kelly’s last words before execution were ‘Such is life’. This is a key part of a prevalent Kelly mythology that has been subject to little serious critique. Yet the attribution of the phrase ‘Such is life’ to Kelly is pure fiction. Analysis of the reportage of the day recovers Kelly’s actual last words, and explains how they were transmuted by one journalist into the catchy expression quoted as fact by many historians.

Stuart Dawson  research article

The outlaws of the Wombat Ranges published by G Wilson Hall is a massively important historical document in its claim to give an impartial account of the Kelly outbreak up to the time of writing. The account was published only four months after the Stringy Bark Creek police shootings and only two weeks after the the Jerilderie bank robbery by the Kelly gang.  Its a free download as Stuart Dawson believes all such documents should be. Well done Stuart.

Since the Glenrowan siege the police have almost universally been blamed for the subsequent death of labourer George Metcalf, who claimed he was struck by a police bullet during the siege and had his medical costs paid by the police. However, witness statements of the time show that Metcalf was accidentally shot in the face by Ned Kelly before the siege began. This article by Stuart Dawson shows how a false view of history and inadequate research wrongly blamed the police for Metcalf's injury.

Stuart Dawson  research article

Constable Fitzpatrick is the man most often blamed for triggering the Kelly outbreak. Ever since the event Fitzpatrick has been widely labeled a drunkard, liar and perjurer. Yet this is not correct. This article by Stuart Dawson reconstructs, corroborates, and vindicates Fitzpatrick's courtroom testimony, and shows - without trying to make him into a saint - that almost everything written about his role in the Kelly outbreak by numerous "historical experts" for the last 140 years is wrong. The real story is put forward here.

The case for James Whitty. In this interesting thesis by author unknown, questions the vilification of James Whitty who in contemporary Kelly history books is seen as Ned Kelly's arch enemy because through one incident Kelly gained a bad reputation and become known as a horse and cattle thief. If the truth be known, the author provides insight into the Whitty / Kelly affair. Later, Kellys self professed thievery could be seen as a prank following 'blame it on the Kellys'

The hut behind the school. When the Kelly Gang were on the run during 1879-80 they were protected by many sympathisers and local farmers in N. East Victoria. This is another HUT discovery story still evolving. ' The hut behind the school ' was known by locals long ago, but where it stood has only now been discovered by a group of  researchers led by Alan Gibb, Arthur Hall and Marcus Swinburne. Each are descendant of land owners who were there at the time..

feedback to Iron-Icon. and Two Huts stories  If you have an opinion or can add to the story, have your say.  Ned Kelly and Stringy Bark Creek are an important starting point to the Kelly story, share your thoughts or critique, agree or disagree and claim a genuine fragment of the Kelly target tree. This tiny wood keepsake relic of Australian folklore history is limited.. *

Ned Kelly Seminar Papers, - In 2002, Kelly researcher Marian Matta informed me she had transcribed the ‘Ned Kelly Seminar Papers 1993’ from audio tape Compact Cassettes onto her computer, I later transferred them to PDF for this free download. Talks by eminent historians include Keith McMenomy, Ian Jones, John H Philips, Dr John McQuilton and Jan Clark, they discuss the Kelly saga 25 years after the first symposium in 1968, Ned Kelly- Man and Myth.

Local fossicker unlocks Kelly armour mystery?  SM Herald 30 Sept 2006 An army of historians and folklore aficionados have been unable to establish in the 131 years since the armour made its mark on Australian judicial legend, where was it made? Beechworth local Darren Sutton believes he has found the forge where Byrne's armour suit was created. Darren found a piece of iron off cut that he claims matches part of Joe Byrnes armour.  - reports Age writer- Steve Waldon . Unfortunately however, scientific analysis of the Darren's iron piece has proven a metallurgical negative match to the real Joe Byrne armour which leaves Darren with a tricky problem to overcome. See Darren's iron piece match Byrne armour in Benalla.

Watch Darren'Suttons find on YouTube video here- In trying to help resolve Darrens delema with ANSTO , during 2006 I contacted and visited Darren with a scientist willing to offer for free an independent sampling of his piece using 'Varian Techtron 'Atomic Absorption Spectrometer '  Details of the procedure were put in place so no false outcomes would be argued about, but Darren did not want to prceed. Now also see Dee's Blog which exposes Darren's tricky problem with the help of some real pictures.

Kelly Armour, this provocative You Tube video shows how difficult it would be to make  full size Kelly armour. The voice is that of Ned Kelly telling us his predicament, while two blacksmiths try hard to make a breast plate similar. The background image on this webpage are 1/3rd scale model replicas of  Kelly' gang iron helmets for sale direct from maker.

Music Videos

Song writer Jack D Melbourne says- “When I was writing tunes for the Kelly Gang lyrics, it was very difficult not to give it an early Australian colonial or Irish feel” This recording has involved some of the greats of the Australian music industry vocalists and musicians and have been guided by Parris Macleod. First produced in 2008, on a Special Limited Edition CD, it springs to life with this visual video treat. Play it loud and well done everyone, look forward to part 2.

The Kelly hut on Bullock Creek may not have been the only hut. UPDATE, This looks at the possibility there were two huts occupied by the Kelly's at Bullock Ck. One was described by Constable James who found the Kelly camp one month after the killings at Stringybark Ck,  the other is a photo of a hut, but the description doesn't match the photo?  Here is a possible answer to the vexing question, were there TWO huts at Bullock Ck ? Another recent discovered is a 1930's photo of the Kelly Ck sawmill that was built directly over one of the Kelly camp hut sites. The picture shows a tree that could be one of the Kelly target trees.*

Related site

The Bullets of Kellys Creek  During 1985 Bill Denheld is metal detecting at Kelly's Ck, where the Kellys lived for up to six months leading up to the shoot out with the police at Stringybark Ck. It stood to reason that some bullets fired by the Kelly's at target trees had missed the target. Included are the only known photos of the actual trees fired at by the Kellys' during their target practice at Bullock Creek 1878 ( later renamed Kelly's Ck, The photos of target trees were discovered during Aug 2003 some 125 years later. The target trees date from well before the shootings at Stringybark Ck. *

                    
         Main story -  The Stringybark Creek shootings -                                        The above visor slots are of Joe Byrne's helmet               

Two Huts at Stringybark Creek.  The only 'on the ground' research website into the haunts of the Kelly Gang. Two bush hut fireplaces found at Stringybark Ck by Kelly researcher Bill Denheld, re-establishes the exact location where two police troopers were killed by the Kelly gang in Oct 1878. This site is on the west bank and contrary to the east bank site to where tourists are being led by miss informed authorities *

Related site

New Kelly find leaves theory of shootings up the creek Melbourne newspaper ' The Age' on 10 Feb 2003 by Geoff Strong. A gunpowder flask recovered from the ' Shingle' hut site (dating from the time of the Kellys) proves where the Kelly gang shootout occurred. The Age article headline, true to its word was not appreciated by eminent Kelly historian Mr. Ian Jones, who had declaring the huts finding as 'codswollup' on Melbourne ABC morning radio 774 AM. Mr.Jones's denigrating remark was unfortunate, since the huts finding proves the location of the shootout . Picture SANDY SCHELTEMA

 
 

Watch this video- Professor Tim Flannery and social historian John Doyle see the magic of the Viewer Scope to match the real site of the Kelly Gang verses Police shoot out site. This is the place without any doubt - The subject of the Stringy Bark Creek police camp, the shooting dead of the three Police by the Kelly Gang, the exact spot is no longer a mystery. With logic and on ground 'primary source evidence' for all to see, three other contended sites have been proven negative. But the proponents of those sites don't seem able to accept historical truth when presented to them. Please continue to read their opposing documents, then also see their web-forum debates and  their ill conceived arguments. People I have shown this site to, like Prof. Tim Flannery,  global warming activist, John Doyle, award winning writer, radio presenter and comedian,  author Ian MacFarlane, of important recently published book  'Ned Kelly Unmasked', author Peter Fitzsimons his latest book 'Ned Kelly', all these people and dozens more highly professional observers all agree with my evidence presented, that the site of two huts fireplaces at SBC being the true correct site. All I ask is for my opponents  to present a compelling case to the contrary!  Forget all the hoopla, maybe etc, etc prove your case for another site. Bill

The Police Camp Site; There has been an exhaustive investigation to identify the site. The investigation team was led by Bill Denheld and Linton Briggs and at the offset, any outcome was to be agreed to by all before publishing. There is a strong background slope in the old 1878 photo of where trooper Lonigan was shot,- Identify that slope on the ground  and we can identify the proper site. But what do you have to do to convince each member to see. Join us to decipher and separate the bull from the dust. You be the judge ? *

This booklet is what they      produced

CSI@SBC. Crime Scene Investigation at Stringy Bark Creek, 2010,  Initial team member, Bill Denheld received his digital draft copy of the team's document only to find his compelling Two Huts research totally ignored. Seeing their many glaring mistakes. I  returned my digital  copy with comments in blue text. I could hardly believe these  fellow researchers could be so blinkered. Gosh I thought, if history can be construed like this 'and in print' we certainly have to question accepted written history. For the sake of historical truth, lets hope future students will see through this travesty. If this was not bad enough check out their lLatest  July 2017 UPDATE                                              Its truly mind boggling.

Over a period of 12 months a team of five have studied the sites, pondered over and over the evidence only to disagree. The majority of team members favored the area near the Kelly tree to which Bill could not agree. Bill was advised if he could not agree with the team's selection and paper CSI@SBC, then he should write his own. Despite Bill's endeavor to have the team see their error, Bill however, could not put his name to their document that failed on many fundamental points, one being the slope in the Burman photo. This is Bill's paper that leads you through the only site to pass the photo test. *  Click here for link to main doc

Ned Kelly's last words not 'such is life'  A LEADING Queensland psychiatrist, Dr Scott has diagnosed legendary bushranger Ned Kelly as a violent and vindictive psychopath — and dismissed his famous last words ‘such is life’ as a myth.  Dr Scott joined with Melbourne historian and author of ‘The Kelly Gang Unmasked’, Ian MacFarlane, to reach remarkable conclusions about the bushranger for an article in the journal Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. Read book Abstract

Australian Geographic article does not put Ned's DNA to rest ? Glenrowan-based historian Gary Dean, who has been researching the Kelly history for more than 40 years, says while there's a strong possibility the remains belong to Kelly, he's not convinced the connection has been conclusively proven. DNA passed along the male line is needed in addition to mitochondrial DNA that was passed down from Kelly's sister, he says -

“Valid links with the Past” Kelly Sites Toombullup beginning 1885... Historians, Sheila Hutchinson and Fay Johnson bring you back to where the Kelly occupation had left its mark. Using their fascinating research, the exact location of the Kelly target tree and the Kelly hut site can be plotted on the ground. As expected the Kelly related sites were marked on the earliest maps of the district. They advance material to suggest the shoot out site was north of the picnic ground at SBC.

Ned Kelly's World. Gary Dean's website is one of the original sites. Much of his research has a basis upon generations of intimate and local knowledge concerning the real story.  This site is a key stone site to the whole Kelly story. A passionate researcher of Kelly, Gary is the guru, and is distantly related to the Kelly clan as well as to the very lady who sewed up the Eureka flag Anastasia Withers.

The Royal Commission into the Kelly outbreak ~ 12 Mb all 721 pages in 'html' format suitable for search by 'names' and is hosted at ironicon.com.au from Gary Dean's files.

Archaeology of the Glenrowan Inn site,   Anne Jones's hotel. The siege site of The Glenrowan Inn as photographed the morning of 28 June 1880. Today the hotel site plays a very important historical roll in the retelling of the siege at Glenrowan. Luckily, the land where the hotel once stood has not been redeveloped  largely due to the conservator owners the Briggs family of Glenrowan. *

Australian Iron Outlaw  Webmaster Brad Webb has created what is the most impressive directory of all things Kelly.  Amongst his regular writers Alan Crichton 'Keep Ya Powder Dry' reports on Kelly events and are a laugh and a half . Also check out Readers Feedback which spans from 1999. Seems more happens on IO Facebook than this big website!

Bailup Ned Kelly Bushranger  ITS BACK, This site  is a serious look at the whole Kelly story and reports on mistruths that always seems to be published. 'Let the truth be known' and Justice to the story. www.bailup.com is a great resource to any Kelly student. The site is the work of Nicky Cowie who has created an institution. The above links to 'facts at a glance'  and is a good starting point.

Forums Here are two other members only forums- KC2000 For-um and Stringybark Creek For-um"   Double J  ABC radio interview with author Doug Morrissey, his new book Ned Kelly - A Lawless Life and Leo Kennedy's thoughts on the Kelly myth and the problems with Stringy-Bark Creek.

FORUMS

Ned Kelly Truth Forum was started by history enthusiast anonymous DEE who  wanted to debate an alternative view of the Kelly story. Almost overnight she attracted large reader participation, but her interesting forum was deleted after complaints to her forum host by the Pro Kelly group who it seems cannot accommodate healthy debate pro or con.. All that remains of Dee's truth forum are these copy pages of about the Stringy-Bark Ck debate saved by Bill. Page 22 of 25

nativened.  Where was Ned Kelly born? Dctr Maikel Annalee narrows it down to Wallan East some 3 Km North East of Beveridge town, (the previously accepted area). Like an archeological dig, we find new information that follows a thread connecting Ned to the Federation of Australia.   A recent Herald Sun article by journalist Mike Edmonds follows the thread.

The death mask and faces of Ned Kelly.  The original death mask was part of a special display at Maxmillion Kreitmeyer's Waxworks in Bourke Street Melbourne 1880 the morning after Ned's execution. Kreitmeyer was reputed to have made the first impression from Ned's face,  however, new information suggests the death mask may have been made by an accompanying Sydney Waxworks owner Desiderio Cristofani working with Maxmillion Kreitmeyer.  *

Kelly's Cave rumoured as the hideout of the Kellys' leading up to the police murders at Stringy Bark Creek only weeks later has been identified by Stephen Handbury 27 July 2014. This cave was first reported to the police as a likely place where the Kellys' may be hiding, and most likely the first day excursion led by Sergeant Kennedy and Const Scanlan to find it. But this may not have been the only cave being looked for- See Feedback opposite

Background images of 1/3rd scale model replica of Kelly gang iron helmets. Write a short essay why you are a Kelly sympathizer and submit here to admin for consideration to publication and receive a courtesy 20% discount on any one of the four Kelly Gang helmets. This page supports a fair go denied to Ned and  also Julian Assange locked up in a UK gaol. Lets get Assange home ASAP.

There is interest in the Police journey to Stringybark Ck Oct 1878 - did the police party get lost?  McIntyre's evidence suggests the police party of four entered Stringybark from South to North. Ned Kelly's evidence, he saw police horse tracks way to the East of Stringybark Ck which he attributed to a second South bound police party. Some readers have asked me to provide info on the Route the police party took to their camp site. Please click on these image links.  http://www.ironicon.com.au/images/sbc-view-to-mansfield.jpg  http://www.ironicon.com.au/images/sbc-view-green-blazed-tree-line.jpg

The Deposition papers of Thomas McIntyre. He was the sole survivor of the shootout with the Kelly gang at Stringybark Ck. On the margin of his court papers for the prosecution of Ned Kelly, someone has drawn a little hut. We like to believe this hut drawing represents the Shingle hut near where the police had camped. Sharon Hollingsworth brings to light who may have drawn this hut doodle.