The role of the police in the saga of Australia’s most famous bushranger will take centre stage at this year’s Beechworth Ned Kelly Weekend, returning Friday 7 to Sunday 9 August.
As a participant in the Talks by the Experts and Behind the Armour events of this year’s program the noted author, historian and retired Superintendent of the Victoria Police, Dr Robert Haldane, will bring a fascinating insider’s view to some of the lesser-known characters of what he terms ‘the Kelly sideshow’ notably, police officers Michael Kennedy, Michael Scanlan and Thomas Lonigan.
A Victoria Police Museum exhibition, The Police View of the Kelly Gang and Policing the North East will be held at the Sub Treasury Building of the Beechworth Historic & Cultural Precinct, a former gold office and for many years the Beechworth police station.
In addition, authentically re-created events featuring precisely detailed police uniforms of the day from Ned Kelly Weekend organisers, the Beechworth Historical Re-enactment Group (BHRG), will give new prominence to the ‘men in blue’ of the Kelly era.
Australia’s premier Ned Kelly event will also offer a lively program of free and ticketed events, including Western Australia’s Peter Nettleton in the Victorian premiere of his theatrical narrative, Harry Power & the Boy Bushranger, at the historic Courthouse. A host of other Kelly-related events will complete the weekend, including a poetry BBQ, great music, Ned Kelly tours, a heritage market, competitions and conversations with experts on the subject of the life and times of Australia’s most notorious bushranger.
Now in its sixth year and widely regarded as this country’s most important annual celebration of the Kelly legend, the weekend event commemorates the anniversary of the outlaw’s committal hearing held in the Beechworth Courthouse from 6 to 11 August 1880.
This year, Ned’s arrival at the Beechworth Railway Station, his transport to the Courthouse, the committal hearing based on actual court transcripts and his ultimate departure from the Court under police guard for transfer to the Old Melbourne Gaol to meet his ultimate fate will all be brought to life by the BHRG.
Established last year and with a membership of 30 and growing fast, the BRG is a committed living history group which recreates the Beechworth of the period 1852 to 1885, with a special focus on the events surrounding Ned Kelly’s links to the town. Wearing the authentic dress of the day, the BHRG is often seen on the streets of Beechworth and other regional centres taking part in street parades, displays and other commemorative activities including the recent re-enactment of the Kelly Gang robbery of the bank in Euroa in December 1878.
Book online www.beechworthonline.com.au
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