Ned Kelly’s bones 
returned to family 
for proper burial

Ned Kelly led a gang of bank robbers in Australia’s southern Victoria state before he was hanged in 1880. Forensic scientists identified Kelly’s nearly headless skeleton last year after it was found in a mass grave outside a now-closed prison.

Most of Kelly’s skull, which was stolen long ago, is still missing, but the identification of the skeleton was followed by a battle over his bones.

The property developer of the former Pentridge Prison site where Kelly’s skeleton was buried had hoped to keep the remains on the grounds. Kelly’s descendants wanted the skeleton for a private burial.

Victoria Attorney General Robert Clark said the remains would be turned over to Kelly’s family.

Ellen Hollow, great-granddaughter of Ned Kelly’s sister Kate Kelly, said: “The Kelly family will now make arrangements for Ned’s final burial.

“We also appeal to the person who has the skull in their possession to return it to (forensic officials), so that when the time comes for Ned to be laid to rest his remains can be complete.”

These days, many Australians view Kelly as a Robin Hood-like character who fought the British colonial authorities and championed the rural Irish underclass. Others insist he was a cold-blooded killer.

Kelly’s skull was stolen when the graveyard of Old Melbourne Gaol was exhumed in 1929 and moved to the nearby Pentridge Prison. The skull was recovered and put on display abut in 1978, it was stolen again.