5th July 1880: one week after the Kelly Gang siege at Glenrowan, an Australian policeman poses with the equipment of two of the bushrangers (highwaymen) killed. The helmet belonged to Joe Byrne, and the rifle and skullcap belonged to gang leader Ned Kelly.
The Glenrowan siege came at the end of the bushranger era, as improved communication technology and the arrival of the railway made it harder for bushrangers to operate. My book The Landowner’s Secret takes place around this time.
For a fairly morbid post: here is an image of a member of Australian bushranger (highwayman) Ned Kelly’s gang being photographed on the 29th of June, 1880.
This is Joe Byrne, who was killed the day before in the infamous siege in Glenrowan, in the colony of Victoria.
Source: the National Museum of Australia, Canberra.
The image is recognised as the first press photograph in Australian history.
Byrne was twenty-three when he died.
Bushrangers terrorised the Australian colonies for much of the nineteenth century, but Glenrowan was something of a turning point. The improvements in communication technology and the arrival of the railway meant bushrangers found it harder to commit their crimes.
My book The Landowner’s Secret takes place shortly after these events, and deals with the threat of bushrangers.
In Times Gone By... 