Why Ned?

The new millennium has witnessed a boom in the interest of Ned and his Gang. In Sydney, we had hundreds of Nolan’s Kellys running around the main arena at the Olympic Opening Ceremony. A few months later, world renowned author Peter Carey shot to number one here in Australia with his best selling fiction title True History of the Kelly Gang — notice I put the word fiction in bold letters because it is fiction, dear people. Fast forward three years and we saw Heath Ledger don the famous armour in a movie adaptation of the very ordinary book Our Sunshine. The movie may be factually flawed but its big name actors did manage to mask many of the books low points. And the legend of Ned Kelly continues to grow.

Ned and the boys may have departed this earth nearly one hundred and forty years ago but on any given week, in any major newspaper, you’ll be able to read a story relating to the Kelly Gang. Now more than ever we’re bombarded with new exhibitions, talk of new documentaries, movies, television shows, web sites, forums, novelty shops, books, music, and auction houses flogging off anything — and nothing — to do with the Kelly legend. So you try to look for some guidance, but where do you start? Back in early 1995 when the Internet was still in it’s infancy I started searching for information on Ned Kelly. What I found was a poorly designed — even for back then — shambles. Then and there I decided to start my own site. Hundreds of hours, three URL changes (www.netspace.net.au/~bradwebb, then www.ncs.net.au/nedkelly, and finally www.ironoutlaw.com), and six total site rebuilds later, the end result is now sitting in front of you. At last count, this web site weighed in at over ninety megabyte with over 210 pages, 1000 asset files, 20000 links, and an average of over eight and a half million hits a year.

The photo right is of myself and my sister standing next to some dodgy armour at one of the numerous Kelly museums that could be found around Benalla back in the mid 70s.

Ian Jones tells the story of how, as a boy of ten, he was first introduced to the legend of Ned through reading J.J. Kenneally’s The Inner History of the Kelly Gang. I was eight when I first went to Glenrowan but, unlike Ian, it took me a few more years to realise what impact Ned had made on the Australian psyche. I suppose Ian didn’t have television to distract him back in 1940. Still, I always had a fascination for all things Australian. When other kids were watching Mickey Mouse, I was reading Blinky Bill. My GI Joe was dressed in Kelly armour that I’d made out of toilet rolls, sewn together with black cotton and coloured in with gray texta. Today I run a publishing studio and during my spare time, when I’m not sleeping, I’m building this web site. Sure there have been countless books, reviews, films and discussions stemming from the infamous uprising but they have never been placed into one easy to access online reference, until now. History has always fascinated me, particularly Australian history. This web site compliments my thirst for knowledge, allowing me to share my passion with like minded souls.