The Jerilderie letter - Ned Kelly

Outlaw, murderer and self-proclaimed victim, Ned Kelly is an Australian icon - but who was he? Kelly's extraordinary achievement is to have provided his own answer to that question. The Jerilderie Letter is his remarkable manifesto and a startling record of his voice. Kelly delivered his letter, which Joe Byrne had written out, in Monday 10 February 1879, immediately after his gang had held up the bank of New South Wales in Jerilderie. He gives an impassioned defence of his actions, condemns those that wrong him and sends a chilling warning to those who may yet defy him.