Fiction Meets Fact In The Kelly Shoot
Richard White
Sydney Morning Herald
26 March 2003
source: smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/25/1048354592966.html

Orlando Bloom and Heath Ledger

The Sydney Morning Herald asked Richard White, senior lecturer in history at the University of Sydney, to check Ned Kelly for authenticity.

Was Kelly innocent of the charge of horse theft that began the tragic chain of events? There are two contradictory accounts. Certainly Kelly insisted that he genuinely believed the horse belonged to his friend Isaiah Wright and it is true he wasn't afraid of riding it in town. Also, Kelly was sentenced to three years in jail for receiving, while Wright was sentenced to only 18 months for the original theft.

Did Kelly have an Irish accent? Probably. Kelly was part of a very close-knit Irish community.

Did he always wear a beard? No. There are photographs of him without a beard, having been shaved in Pentridge jail.

Naomi Watts's character is fictitious. But is it likely that Kelly would have had a romance with someone of a different social standing? No. His known sweethearts were cousins. Incorrect, As Max Brown states in his book Australian Son, Ned's most legitimate claim to a girl friend was Steve Hart's sister

Was Constable Fitzpatrick the drunken liar shown in the film, and was he trying to court Kelly's sister, Kate? Probably. It's certainly true that Kelly always claimed that he wasn't at the Kelly cottage the night Fitzpatrick claimed to have been shot.

Is Kelly's mother accurately portrayed? Yes, a hard, tough, intelligent woman holding the family together.

What about the other members of the Kelly gang - Dan Kelly, Steve Hart and Joe Byrne? Yes. Dan and Hart were hardly out of their teens. Joe Byrne was the educated member of the gang, and it is true that he could speak Cantonese, though we don't know how fluently.

In the film, Superintendent Hare (Geoffrey Rush) is portrayed as an astute policeman who realises Kelly is more than a common thief and recognises him as a noble adversary. Was that true? To a point. The Rush character seems an amalgam of several police chiefs: Standish, Nicolson and Hare.

Is “the traitor” Aaron Sherritt accurately portrayed, and what were his motives for betrayal? In the film Sherritt is persuaded by Superintendent Hare to betray the Kellys in return for securing the life of his friend, Joe Byrne. In reality, those discussions took place with Chief Commissioner Standish, who probably had no intention of sparing Byrne. It is true that Sherritt was killed by Byrne, not Ned Kelly.

Did Kelly allow the Euroa bank manager's wife to change clothes as depicted? Yes. Mrs Scott was allowed to change into a good dress, though she wasn't going to a funeral. It's true Steve Hart did discover he'd been to school with Mrs Scott's maid.

Did Kelly really order his gang to hand back a stolen watch to the minister at Jerilderie? Yes, though it happened outside the pub.

Did Kelly put his gun on the bar at Jerilderie and invite anyone who believed he was a criminal to shoot him? Yes.

Did Kelly dictate the Jerilderie Letter to Joe Byrne in the bar as shown? No. It's 8300 words. Byrne wrote it at Ned's dictation before they got to Jerilderie.

Was Kelly as good an orator as shown in the film? Yes. He was charismatic and had a way with words.

Is the attempted derailment portrayed accurately? The track was actually torn up at a curve where the train would crash down into a gully. Otherwise, yes.

In the film, the schoolteacher Curnow escapes to raise the alarm. Did that happen? No. Kelly let him leave to attend his supposedly sick wife. Kelly's last words to him were “Go quietly to bed, and don't dream too loud.”

Where did Kelly get the idea for his armour? Why didn't he think of leg protection? Some say he got the idea from the then-popular chivalrous novels of Walter Scott. He probably needed his legs free for flexibility.

Was the real-life siege at Glenrowan as violent as depicted? No. Though the shooting was ferocious at times, the whole siege took 24 hours. One hostage, a boy, was fatally wounded, but no police were killed. One boy!?! This bloke Richard White is suppose to be a senior history lecturer! What about Martin Cherry? Shame on you White, you need to get a better education!

Is it true Kelly heroically marched out of the inn at Glenrowan to face the bullet fire to spare the hostages inside the inn? He did leave the inn to face fire. His motives we can only guess at.

Did Kelly manage to elude his captors after he'd been shot as portrayed in the movie? Yes.

In the film version of the Glenrowan shootout, Kelly is shown wearing the sash he was awarded as a boy for saving the life of a drowning youth. It is then taken as a war token by Hare. Did that happen? Yes, Kelly wore it under his armour. But Hare wasn't there. He'd left for Benalla after being wounded on the wrist.