A Poster Advertising A Reward Offered for the Caputre of Ned Kelly

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This source is a wanted poster produced on the orders of the Governor of New South Wales, George Robinson as a method of advertising the reward offered for the capture of Ned Kelly, Dan Kelly, Joseph Byrne and Stephen Hart, collectively known as the Kelly Gang. The poster was printed in 1879, signed by the Colonial Secretary of New South Wales, Henry Parkes and the Attorney-General of Victoria, Bryan O’Loghlen. The poster was likely created through the cooperation of the Colonial Governments of Victoria and New South Wales at the time in order to show a united front against the outlaws. The document itself was probably printed onto large pieces of paper and displayed around the major cities like Sydney and Newcastle as well as the smaller, outlying areas in which the Kelly Gang was known to hide whilst on the run from the constabulary and trackers hunting for them.

The obvious reason behind the printing of the wanted poster was to lead to the capture or killing of the Kelly Gang. By 1879, the gang had already been on the run for a year by this point, with the two Colonial Governments now jointly offering £8,000 (around $1,500,000 AUD today) for the capture of the gang members for the murders of several police officers at Stringybark Creek following their fleeing their homes. There was also an underlying reason behind the significant increase in the reward and distribution of the wanted poster which is not as obvious and has roots in the social tension of the period. Prior to the release of this poster, the Kelly Gang held up a bank in Jerilderie, New South Wales and destroyed a large amount of mortgage and loan agreements which was a standard practice of the gang during their crime spree. What made Jerilderie special was the fac...

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...he run, the Kelly Gang held up several banks in which they destroyed records of loan and mortgage repayments. This meant that bankers potentially lost large amounts of money which was now untraceable. In increasing the reward for the capture of the gang and displaying posters in populated areas, these bankers were shown that the Colonial Governments were taking a strong stance against the actions of the gang and would not let theft of crown and private property go unanswered.

Looking at this source, we can see that there was a significant amount of frustration over the lack of progress in capturing or killing the Kelly Gang. Evidence of this is seen in the fact that at the highest levels of Colonial Government, officials were prepared to take direct action to facilitate this shows that it was an issue reverberating right through all levels of society at the time.

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