Historical context

The communities of the north east were isolated.  Doctors were scarce and basic medical help was almost non-existent, or provided by neighbours.  Distances were covered by horses, or horses pulling wagons, buggies and coaches.  Bullock drays loaded with provision and furniture took weeks to travel from Melbourne.  Fresh food was home grown.  Other supplies had to be ordered weeks or months ahead if they could be afforded.

The attitudes and behaviour of many Irish-Australian settlers of that era stemmed from centuries of resentment, political opposition and violent uprisings against Britain's rule over Ireland.   The Kellys and Quinns were Irish, steeped in Irish folklore which celebrated rebellion and challenge to authorities, and was full of contempt for British authorities and wealthy landowners.

Times were hard and the justice, harsh by any standards, was meted out by those with education, influence and money. Death by hanging and quartering was still known, and ownership of land and property was a powerful ambition for wealthy and poor alike. Even recent advances in British law (1819) had been drafted to protect property rather than human life; an attempted murder was classed as a misdemeanor until 1803.

It was a time when horse ownership was both a means of transport, and symbol of power, and horse thieving was as much an act of class defiance against the British and the landowners, as it was a criminal act. Cattle thieving was the stuff of Irish folklore retold for generations.

Britain continued to deport criminals (convicts) to Australia. In the 50 years from 1803-1853 around 75,000 convicts were transported to Tasmania and by 1835 there were over 800 convicts, among them Red Kelly, working in chain-gangs at the infamous Port Arthur penal station, which operated between 1830 and 1877.

In Ireland, in the late 1840s an incredible famine, known as An Gorta Mor, The Great Hunger, or the Irish Potato Famine killed more than one million people. The scale of suffering was unimaginable as Irish farmers, tenants to British landlords, or on tiny patches of land, had gradually been forced to rely upon potatoes as the their only crop. When the potato crops failed, there was no other food source for the poor. Some British authorities set out to maximise the impact of the famine, continuing to export food, stock was fed before people, and starving families were evicted forcibly.

This cruel behaviour ensured Irish hatred of the British across countries and for generations. The millions who emigrated to new lands such as America and Australia ensured their resentment, and resistence to the priviledged positions held by the British, was carried with them, and openly fostered in Irish circles.

The Victorian goldrush 1851-54 also attracted an influx of politically astute Irish goldminers from the Californian goldfields. While goldminers were challenging the Victorian authorities in Ballarat at the Eureka stockade, Ellen Kelly was giving birth to her first son, Edward (Ned).

Between 1860 and 1865, the American Civil War was fought with Irishmen taking both sides. Some of these footloose rebels continued their travels to Australia, again bringing news to isolated areas. In 1873 a young Californian, George King rode into the Kelly family's lives, first marrying Ellen then becoming Ned Kelly's very skilful horse thieving partner.

Post Eureka Stockade (1854), Victorian governments and landowners were sensitive to talk of the Australian republican movement, and recognised its attraction for traditional Irish opposition. Landowners fought hard to retain the status quo.

Although Ireland must have seemed an eternity away, Irish events continued to influence Irish-Australian opinion. The rebellious actions of oppressed and politically extreme were noted and cheered. Every ship that berthed brought letters from home', news and gossip on the tongues of every immigrant and convict. By 1858 the Irish Republican Brotherhood, also known as the Fenians, had established itself in Ireland

The Irish National League, a moderate repeal body strengthened its Australian existence to over 2000 members in several branches. It supposedly worked toward solution of Irish issues, not local issues. Meanwhile, in 1867 the Irish (Fenian) uprising against the British resulted in the hanging of three Fenian heroes Allen, Larkin and O'Brien- The Manchester Martyrs.

Rumours of Fenian activity in Sydney were rife when in 1868 Prince Alfred, Duke of Wales was shot and wounded on Sydney Harbour by a man claiming to be a Fenian. In NSW it was reported that the main source of Fenian contagion was the influx of Americanised Irishmen coming in from the gold fields of California as well as the Irish using assisted passage opportunities. " who openly boasted that a time was not far distant when they would possess the government of the country". The town of Melbourne was also spooked by Fenian rebellion in Ireland and was on alert.  All Irish gatherings in pubs were suspect.

http://gutenberg.net.au/timeline.html
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/convicts/

The Irish World edited by Brian Breffny Thames and Hudson 1977, 1986

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