The bodies in the grave were transferred from the jail to Pentridge Prison in
1929 and then exhumed again in 2009. His remains were formally identified
last year, minus the skull which remains missing.
“We appeal to the person who has the skull in their possession to return it,”
said Ms Hollow in a family statement.
Believed to have been born in 1854 or 1855, Kelly became an outlaw two years
before he was hanged, taking on corrupt police and greedy land barons.
He survived a shootout with police in 1878 that saw him, his brother Dan, and
friends Joe Byrne and Steve Hart slapped with a bounty of 8,000 pounds – the
largest reward ever offered in the British Empire at the time – for anyone
who found them.
Over the next 18 months the Kelly Gang held up country towns and robbed their
banks, becoming folk heroes to the masses.
In a final gun battle at Glenrowan, three gang members died and Kelly, dressed
in home-made plate metal armour and helmet, was wounded and arrested.
The Kelly gang exploits have been the subject of numerous films and television
series.
Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger played the lead role in the 1970 movie
“Ned Kelly”, while Heath Ledger starred as the bandit in a 2003 remake.
Kelly has also been the inspiration for many books, most notably Peter Carey’s
novel “True History of the Kelly Gang”, which won the 2001 Booker Prize.
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