Joe Byrne - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Joe Byrne was an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n bushranger

Bushranger

Bushrangers, or bush rangers, originally referred to runaway convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who had the survival skills necessary to use the Australian bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities...

born in Victoria to an Irish immigrant. A friend of Ned Kelly

Ned Kelly

Edward "Ned" Kelly was an Irish Australian bushranger. He is considered by some to be merely a cold-blooded cop killer — others, however, consider him to be a folk hero and symbol of Irish Australian resistance against the Anglo-Australian ruling class.Kelly was born in Victoria to an Irish...

, he was a member of the Kelly Gang, who were declared outlaws after the murder of three policemen at Stringybark Creek. Despite wearing the improvised body armour for which Ned Kelly and his gang are now famous (and which he is reputed to have designed), Byrne received a fatal gunshot during the gang's final violent confrontation with police at Glenrowan, in June 1880.

Early years

Joe Byrne was born in 1857 in the village of Woolshed, near Beechworth

Beechworth, Victoria

Beechworth is a well-preserved historical town located in the north-east of Victoria, Australia, famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s...

. His father came from Goulburn

Goulburn, New South Wales

Goulburn is a provincial city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Goulburn Mulwaree Council Local Government Area. It is located south-west of Sydney on the Hume Highway and above sea-level. On Census night 2006, Goulburn had a population of 20,127 people...

and his mother was an immigrant from Galway

Galway

Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

Joe Byrne commenced school at the Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

school at Woolshed in 1862. He was a good student, normally amongst the top students in his class and developed a reputation as a "flash writer". He also became very good friends with fellow student Aaron Sherritt

Aaron Sherritt

Australian police informer Aaron Sherritt was an associate of the gang of outlaws led by Ned Kelly. He grew up in the same area as them and was especially close to gang member Joe Byrne. At one stage he became engaged to Byrne's sister....

. However, Byrne's father Patrick developed heart disease and Byrne's school results suffered. He finished school in 1869 with a fifth-grade education while his father died in the same year. Joe Byrne also learnt how to speak Cantonese from nearby Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

gold diggers and also learned how to smoke opium

Opium

Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...

.

Byrne and Sheritt became closer friends at that stage and started getting in trouble with the law. Byrne made his first appearance in court in 1871 on the charge of illegally using a horse, having to pay a fine of 20 shillings up front to avoid going to jail. Byrne and Sherritt were later convicted of stealing a bullock and served six months in HM Prison Beechworth

HM Prison Beechworth

HM Prison Beechworth was a medium security Australian prison located in Beechworth, Victoria, Australia.Construction of the current structure was begun in 1859 and completed in 1864 at a cost of 47,000 pounds. The prison closed in 2004 and the site has been purchased by private contractors...

. During this imprisonment, Byrne and Sherritt met Jim Kelly who was the brother of Ned and Dan Kelly

Dan Kelly (bushranger)

Dan Kelly was an Australian bushranger and outlaw. The son of an Irish convict, he was the youngest brother of the bushranger, Ned Kelly. Dan and his brother killed three policemen. With two friends, they formed the Kelly Gang...

. Joe Byrne met in 1876 and the pair soon became firm friends.

The Kelly Gang

Dan Kelly

Dan Kelly (bushranger)

had discovered an abandoned gold diggings at Bullock Creek

Bullock Creek

The Bullock Creek Fossil site is one of three known vertebrate fossil sites in the Australia's Northern Territory, along with the Alcoota Fossil Beds on Alcoota Station and the Kangaroo Well site on Deep Well Station. It is located about 550km south-southeast of Darwin, on Camfield Station...

which was worked by the Kelly brothers, Byrne, Sherritt and Steve Hart

Steve Hart

Steve Hart was an Australian bushranger renowned for his membership in the Kelly Gang.-History:Hart was born in Wangaratta to Irish immigrant parents Richard and Bridget Hart...

during the next couple of years. Byrne was likely present at the Kelly homestead on 15 April 1878 when Constable Fitzpatrick claimed that Ned Kelly shot him and Ellen Kelly, Ned's mother, hit him over the head with a shovel. Afterwards, Ned and Dan Kelly

Dan Kelly (bushranger)

fled to Bullock Creek with a 100 pound bounty on their heads and Ellen Kelly was sentenced to three years hard labour for assaulting a police officer.

Joe Byrne was present at Stringybark Creek with the Kelly brothers and Steve Hart

Steve Hart

Steve Hart was an Australian bushranger renowned for his membership in the Kelly Gang.-History:Hart was born in Wangaratta to Irish immigrant parents Richard and Bridget Hart...

on 26 October 1878 when they surprised a patrol of four police officers on their trail, with three of them shot dead. Joe Byrne murdered Trooper Scanlon and was found wearing the trooper's ring at the time of his death. The gang were declared as outlaws for this incident on 15 November 1878 and a price of £2000 pounds (equivalent to approximately A$754,000 in 2008) was placed on their heads.

The Kelly Gang started developing a strategy with Byrne acting as Kelly's lieutenant, always being consulted about strategy. The Kelly Gang robbed the Euroa branch of the National Bank of Australia stealing over £2,000 which was the most successful bushranger raid to that point. Joe Byrne drafted the Euroa letter (now known as the Cameron letter) in red ink sent by Ned Kelly to Donald Cameron

Donald Cameron

-Scottish Clan Cameron:* Donald Dubh Cameron, 11th Chief* Taillear Dubh na Tuaighe, Donald Cameron, illegitimate son of 13th Chief; descendants are members of Taylor sept* Donald Dubh MacDonald MacEwen Cameron, 15th Chief...

, a local MLC

MLC

-Technology:*Multi-level cell, a type of flash memory*Multi-Platform Language for Calculators*Multileaf collimator, a tool used for shaping radiation beams in external-beam radiotherapy.*Mobile Location Center, a network element in GSM Telephony Networks...

. claiming that justice had not been done in the case of his mother and himself. It concluded "For I need no lead or powder to revenge my cause, And if words be louder I will oppose your laws."

The police made a serious mistake by locking up over 20 alleged supporters of the Kelly gang between the third of January 1879 and 22 April 1879 under the Felons Apprehension Act 1878. This cemented public support for the gang especially in northeast Victoria. Joe Byrne was able to use this support to advantage by penning a number of bush ballad

Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

s about the exploits of Kelly and his gang:

My name is Ned Kelly,

I'm known adversely well.

My ranks are free,

my name is law,

Wherever I do dwell.

My friends are all united,

my mates are lying near.

We sleep beneath shady trees,

No danger do we fear.

Joe Byrne frequently visited his mother at her house in Beechworth and was also seen carousing in bars in the town, despite having a price on his head. This was due to a combination of his skill and daring, the incompetence of the police and the support of local residents for the Kelly Gang. There was a Royal Commission into the Victorian Police in 1881 after the capture of the Kelly Gang because of the deficiencies exposed by the Gang.

Kelly and Byrne started planning their next raid at Jerilderie. On 10 February 1879, dressed as police officers, the gang raided the Bank of NSW

Westpac

Westpac , is a multinational financial services, one of the Australian "big four" banks and the second-largest bank in New Zealand....

branch at Jerilderie taking another £2,000. Prior to the raid, Byrne composed the Jerilderie Letter which supported the creation of a Republic of North-eastern Victoria. The proceeds of both the Euroa and Jerilderie robberies were distributed amongst the gang's family, friends and supporters. The Kelly gang shouted the bar at Jerilderie which further enhanced their reputation.

After the Jerilderie raid, the gang laid low for 16 months evading capture. This aided to their reputation and greatly embarrassed the government of Victoria

Government of Victoria

The Government of Victoria, under the Constitution of Australia, ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas...

and the police. The Victorian Government eventually increased the reward for capture of a member of the Kelly Gang to £8,000 (equivalent to two million Australian dollar

Australian dollar

The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...

s in 2005).

Siege of Glenrowan

Byrne started plans with Kelly for another bank raid in Benalla in 1880. However, they were becoming increasingly concerned about Sherritt who they feared was being targeted by police as an informant. While Byrne had previously used Sherritt as a double agent to persuade the police that the gang was planning a raid in the Goulburn River rather than at Jerilderie, both Kelly and Byrne believed that he had turned informant. This prompted Byrne and Dan Kelly

Dan Kelly (bushranger)

to murder Sherritt

Aaron Sherritt

as an informer on 26 June 1880.

The following day, the Kelly Gang took over Glenrowan, first tearing up the railway line in anticipation of a special trainload of police being sent to capture them. They held over 60 people hostage in the town. Tom Curnow, the schoolmaster of the local school who had won Kelly's trust, escaped and warned the train crew who in turn told the police. This enabled 34 police to surround the Glenrowan Hotel where the bushrangers had again shouted the bar.

Joe Byrne is believed to have been heavily involved in designing the armour worn by all members of the Gang at the siege of Glenrowan. This did not stop him from being shot in the groin by a stray bullet which severed his femoral artery

Femoral artery

The femoral artery is a general term comprising a few large arteries in the thigh. They begin at the inguinal ligament and end just above the knee at adductor canal or Hunter's canal traversing the extent of the femur bone....

. Eyewitnesses at the hotel claimed that a moment before the bullet struck Joe Byrne dead, he offered the toast "Here's to the bold Kelly Gang!". Another report states that he said "Many more years in the bush for the Kelly Gang!". He died from loss of blood on 28 June 1880. The next day his body was hung on the door of the lock-up at Benalla and photographed by the press. His family did not claim the body and the police refused to hand it over to sympathisers, fearing a funeral would become a rallying point for the simmering rebellion. He was buried on the same day as Sherritt. Dan Kelly and Steve Hart also died on the day of the siege by taking poison while Ned Kelly was captured and tried in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

. Ned Kelly was hanged at Old Melbourne Gaol on 11 November 1880. There is a legend that Kelly and Byrne had drafted a Declaration of a Republic of Northeast Victoria which was discovered in Kelly's possession at his capture and was destroyed by the Victorian Government.

Byrne and his role in creating the Kelly legend

By writing the various letters that were issued in Kelly's names and the bush ballads and designing the armour, Joe Byrne was the man responsible with Kelly himself for creating the Kelly legend. In the following 125 years, the legend has grown. There have been a number of films made about the Kelly Gang including a 1906 film which was one of the first feature films ever made. In 2003, Orlando Bloom

Orlando Bloom

Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom is an English actor. He had his break-through roles in 2001 as the elf-prince Legolas in The Lord of the Rings and starring in 2003 as blacksmith Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, and subsequently established himself as a lead in Hollywood...

played the part of Joe Byrne in Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly (2003 film)
Ned Kelly is an Australian drama film directed by Gregor Jordan. The film portrays the life of Ned Kelly — a legendary bushranger in northeast Victoria. Ned Kelly, his brother Dan, and two other men — Steve Hart and Joe Byrne — formed a gang of Irish Australians in response to Irish and...

.

Australian novelist Peter Carey won the 2001 Booker Prize and the Commonwealth Writers Prize the same year for the True History of the Kelly Gang
True History of the Kelly Gang
True History of the Kelly Gang is an historical novel by Australian writer Peter Carey. It was first published in Brisbane by the University of Queensland Press in 2000. It won the 2001 Man Booker Prize and the Commonwealth Writers Prize in the same year. Despite its title, the book is fiction and...

. This was inspired by the Jerilderie letter drafted by Byrne.

Ned Kelly and the Kelly Gang has been immortalised by Sidney Nolan wearing the armour designed by Joe Byrne in a famous set of paintings. This inspired a scene at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics

2000 Summer Olympics

The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

Modern discoveries

In September 2006, Darren Sutton (a Beechworth miner

Miner

A miner is a person whose work or business is to extract ore or minerals from the earth. Mining is one of the most dangerous trades in the world. In some countries miners lack social guarantees and in case of injury may be left to cope without assistance....

, fossicker

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

, historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

and tourist guide

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

) found a piece of armour believed to be an offcut from Joe Byrne's armour in bushland near Beechworth in country Victoria.
The armour is thought to have been created by local blacksmith Charlie Knight and friend Thomas Straughair for the Kelly Gang.

According to Heritage Victoria this is not considered to be from the same metal as the suit of armour made for Joe Byrne.

However, the information used to make the decision on whether the offcut matched or not has been found to be inaccurate. The reason given by Heritage Victoria was that Joe's suit contained large amounts of lead, and the piece found in the bush contains no lead, so they cannot be the same. The test results from Ansto clearly state that the lead found on Joes suit was from a bullet impact, made after World War I. The bullet impression contains lead, tin and tungsten. Tungsten was only used post World War I in ballistics. The metal piece found in the bush contains no lead because it was removed from the suit, using a chisel, which has also been recovered, prior to being worn at Glenrowan. The breastplate was too long and impeded Joe's movement, and probably prevented him easily mounting a horse, or walking freely.
Further testing, and analysis of previous test results is now being undertaken independently and the results will be published some time between August and October 2010.

External references

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.