Edward Kelly December [ a ] β 11 November was an Australian bushranger , outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout with the police. Kelly was born and raised in rural Victoria , the third of eight children to Irish parents.
His father, a transported convict , died in , leaving Kelly, then aged 12, as the eldest male of the household. The Kellys were a poor selector family who saw themselves as downtrodden by the squattocracy and as victims of persecution by the Victoria Police. While a teenager, Kelly was arrested for associating with bushranger Harry Power and served two prison terms for a variety of offences, the longest stretch being from to He later joined the " Greta Mob", a group of bush larrikins known for stock theft.
A violent confrontation with a policeman occurred at the Kelly family's home in , and Kelly was indicted for his attempted murder. Fleeing to the bush, Kelly vowed to avenge his mother, who was imprisoned for her role in the incident. After he, his brother Dan , and associates Joe Byrne and Steve Hart shot dead three policemen, the government of Victoria proclaimed them outlaws.
Kelly and his gang, with the help of a network of sympathisers, evaded the police for two years. The gang's crime spree included raids on Euroa and Jerilderie , and the killing of Aaron Sherritt , a sympathiser turned police informer.
In a manifesto letter , Kellyβdenouncing the police, the Victorian government and the British Empireβset down his own account of the events leading up to his outlawry. Demanding justice for his family and the rural poor, he threatened dire consequences against those who defied him. In , the gang tried to derail and ambush a police train as a prelude to attacking Benalla , but the police, tipped off, confronted them at Glenrowan. In the ensuing hour siege and gunfight, the outlaws wore armour fashioned from plough mouldboards.
