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Mystery of Ned Kelly's missing head 'solved'


Still Waters

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One of Australia's biggest mysteries – what happened to the head of notorious outlaw Ned Kelly – may have been solved after a pensioner in New Zealand claimed she has it.

Earlier this month, Kelly's descendants issued an appeal for information on where the skull is when the rest of his remains were handed over to them after being identified through DNA testing.

In a family statement, Ellen Hollow, great-granddaughter of Kelly's sister Kate, said: "We appeal to the person who has the skull in their possession to return it."

The family won the right to give the skeleton a final burial following a dispute with a property developer working on the site of Melbourne's Pentridge Prison, where the bones were unearthed in 2009.

Now Anna Hoffman, a 74-year-old New Zealander, says she was given the skull 30 years ago while on holiday in Melbourne, by a security guard who told her it was "Ned's head".

http://www.telegraph...es-forward.html

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*never even knew it was missing... :( *

Edited by Eldorado
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Is it still in that bucket he habitually wore?

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Just listen...can you hear it? "IIIIIIIII ain't got no boooooody"

Edited by Idano
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Not being an Austrialian, I had never heard of Ned Kelly until a few years ago when I picked up the movie about him, that starred Mick Jagger... To those of you that know these kinds of things, how accurate was that movie (if you saw it)?...

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Not being an Austrialian, I had never heard of Ned Kelly until a few years ago when I picked up the movie about him, that starred Mick Jagger... To those of you that know these kinds of things, how accurate was that movie (if you saw it)?...

You'll have to wait for Mc for that one, Taun. I only know the 'basics' about Kelly. I'm willing to bet the 'Rolling Stones' version owed a bit to the imagination, (although I enjoyed Mick's performance!)

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You'll have to wait for Mc for that one, Taun. I only know the 'basics' about Kelly. I'm willing to bet the 'Rolling Stones' version owed a bit to the imagination, (although I enjoyed Mick's performance!)

Thanks ealdwita... I took the time to read up a bit on him (wikipedia so I'm not sure how accurate it was...) and the movie seems to have been 'basically correct' (by wiki standards)... Of course, the movie was sympathetic to the Kellys, while the wiki article was a bit more balanced...

The wiki was apparently written by an 'Aussie' so I had a bit of trouble following some of the terms, though the basic meanings were clear enough in context...

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Not being an Austrialian, I had never heard of Ned Kelly until a few years ago when I picked up the movie about him, that starred Mick Jagger... To those of you that know these kinds of things, how accurate was that movie (if you saw it)?...

Thought the movie was duff, to be honest. (ham-acting)

On the plus side, if he had lips like Jagger that skull should be easy to spot. (Only joking, Mick)

Edited by Eldorado
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Not being an Austrialian, I had never heard of Ned Kelly until a few years ago when I picked up the movie about him, that starred Mick Jagger... To those of you that know these kinds of things, how accurate was that movie (if you saw it)?...

I haven't seen either Ned Kelly movies, to be honest didn't even realise there was a Mick Jagger version until I read the above posts.

Ned Kelly is regarded as a bit of a national hero, with some dark sides too. More for his early life and final days than anything. His murders aren't respected, especially murdering police.

But I don't know too much, Wikipedia would probably be more help than me haha.

Also a lot of bushrangers back then were liked by the small towns people. The small towns people were having it tough, and the British taxes were going up. The bushrangers would often rob the British after they the taxes were paid to them and return it to the townspeople in return for free food, room and to keep an eye out for them etc.

The aftermath of The Eureka Rebellion was still going on at this point too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_Rebellion

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I haven't seen either Ned Kelly movies, to be honest didn't even realise there was a Mick Jagger version until I read the above posts.

Apologies for steering off-topic, DKO but have you watched The Proposition?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421238/

Best Aussie movie I've seen since Mad Max. :)

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Apologies for steering off-topic, DKO but have you watched The Proposition?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421238/

Best Aussie movie I've seen since Mad Max. :)

Nah I haven't, I've heard it's good though. Haven't really watched Mad Max either. I'm a bad Aussie film buff haha.

Aussie films are either fairly good or really bad IMO (Young film and theatre history here to blame I reckon :tu: ). I started watching Mad Max about a year ago, Mel Gibson was good in it but all the others made me cringe a little. I remember meeting a few Americans in Bali once and they were asking me "Why don't I have an Australian accent?" I said I did, and they said "It's nothing like the Australians in Mad Max"! haha

Edit to ad - Chopper is a good Aussie movie if you haven't seen it, Eric Bana stars in it.

Edited by DKO
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so i guess we will be hearing about its authenticity soon enouph yeh? typical, neds head ended up with witches... australia has always been good at losing things. like the award winning film WAKE IN FRIGHT (outback)...

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One of Australia's biggest mysteries – what happened to the head of notorious outlaw Ned Kelly – may have been solved after a pensioner in New Zealand claimed she has it.

Earlier this month, Kelly's descendants issued an appeal for information on where the skull is when the rest of his remains were handed over to them after being identified through DNA testing.

In a family statement, Ellen Hollow, great-granddaughter of Kelly's sister Kate, said: "We appeal to the person who has the skull in their possession to return it."

The family won the right to give the skeleton a final burial following a dispute with a property developer working on the site of Melbourne's Pentridge Prison, where the bones were unearthed in 2009.

Now Anna Hoffman, a 74-year-old New Zealander, says she was given the skull 30 years ago while on holiday in Melbourne, by a security guard who told her it was "Ned's head".

http://www.telegraph...es-forward.html

For a more qualified discussion of the topic, the following article from the current AIA publication may of interest. Certain positions expressed in the "Telegraph" article may be questionable (!).

http://www.archaeolo...ourne_gaol.html

.

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Guy was a criminal murdering robber, I'm not sure why he's so idolised by the Aussie media. It's not like he was a Robin Hood figure who gave to the poor either.

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For a more qualified discussion of the topic, the following article from the current AIA publication may of interest. Certain positions expressed in the "Telegraph" article may be questionable (!).

http://www.archaeolo...ourne_gaol.html

.

Thanks for the link, very interesting.

"You see, the pride of the Kelly's Ned, my son, my son

Ride like a Kelly with your head held high..." - Rolf Harris

Edited by Likely Guy
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I bet we will find his head on an online auction site one of these days.

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Maybe it was just one of those times you had to be there.

Apparently, the skull the self proclaimed witch is touting has wires attached to it.

Not Ned's head.

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Apparently, the skull the self proclaimed witch is touting has wires attached to it.

So does Jagger's! lol

(Only jokin)

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to steve bronfman...

ughhh, he tried to liberate the irish (lower class in australia at the time) and he did give money to the poor, not in the way robin hood did but robin hood is a fictional being. ..... also, to the person who said they are an aussie film buff.... should check out Bad Boy Bubby and Bootmen. they are bloody wonderfull films. cheers

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Guy was a criminal murdering robber, I'm not sure why he's so idolised by the Aussie media. It's not like he was a Robin Hood figure who gave to the poor either.

The media does idolise him a bit and I agree he's given too much credit for a murderer but he did help a lot of townspeople. Like I said in my other post, his gang would rob the British after they had taken taxes from towns and return it to the people, in return for food/water and services.

And to be honest most countries 'heroes' have shady parts to their history, but are remembered for their good ones. :tu:

Edit: I Didn't see 'andy hair candy' posted same thing.

Edited by DKO
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The media does idolise him a bit and I agree he's given too much credit for a murderer but he did help a lot of townspeople. Like I said in my other post, his gang would rob the British after they had taken taxes from towns and return it to the people, in return for food/water and services.

And to be honest most countries 'heroes' have shady parts to their history, but are remembered for their good ones. :tu:

Edit: I Didn't see 'andy hair candy' posted same thing.

Yes, we have Billy the Kid and The James boys (Frank and Jesse).. .Billy was a cold blooded killer with no sense of remorse, and Jesse wasn't much better (Frank actually reformed while in prison)... I don't know why these guys are 'romantic heroes' to some...

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Now Anna Hoffman, a 74-year-old New Zealander, says she was given the skull 30 years ago while on holiday in Melbourne, by a security guard who told her it was "Ned's head".

"Candy is dandy but likker is quicker."

Heads, I'm not so sure about.

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to steve bronfman...

ughhh, he tried to liberate the irish (lower class in australia at the time) and he did give money to the poor, not in the way robin hood did but robin hood is a fictional being. ..... also, to the person who said they are an aussie film buff.... should check out Bad Boy Bubby and Bootmen. they are bloody wonderfull films. cheers

Bad Boy Bubby is noit a movie a would reccomend to anyone unless you wish to be scared for life !

On Topic -

I am a local to Ned Kelly's area ( his hangout is like 45 mins from where I live ) .

I can almost guarantee its NOT Neds head ...

Do you honestly believe that a security guard would have access to his remains ? Not likely .

Do you think that if he had access to the skull he would just give it away to some random Kiwi tourist ? Not likely .

As mentioned before the skull in question had had wire in it at some stage , making it more likely it was used in medical training or something on those lines .

Tip.

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Apparently they chopped Ned's head off to make a 'death mask'. Which, incidentally you don't have to do to make a death mask. But, nevertheless, Ned's head was detached from his body.

After they (apparently medical students) boiled the flesh from his skull in 1880, his skull had been on display from 'who knows when' until about 1978 at the old 'gaol', when Mr. Kelly's noggin' went missing. Which was also about the time that she acquired it.

I think that the security guard that passed it along to her, passed away in the last year or so.

Tipotep wrote; "Do you honestly believe that a security guard would have access to his remains ? Not likely .

Do you think that if he had access to the skull he would just give it away to some random Kiwi tourist ? Not likely "

Remember, that this was about 1978. 'Security' in those days was just a guy in a uniform, maybe. That was it.

As far as some 'random Kiwi tourist'. She said that she told the guy, at a party probably, that she collected skulls. She neglected to mention that her collection was mostly animal. Apparently he showed up a day or so later with Ned's head.

The security guard was just 'trying to get some'.

We'll see when the DNA's done though! I hope that this becomes a case of an 'explained mystery' but, we'll see.

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