Planning Minister Justin Madden yesterday confirmed the find almost certainly included the grave of Ned Kelly.
"Heritage Victoria has co-ordinated extensive archeological and historical investigations, which began in December 2006 after the possibility of multiple burial areas at the former prison site came to light," Mr Madden said.
Plans for the remains have not been finalised, but a publicly accessible cemetery and rose garden will be created at Pentridge.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
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Ned Kelly's bones found in mass grave
By Lawrie Nowell
NED Kelly's last resting place has been found among bones dug up at the former Pentridge Prison site - solving an 80-year-old riddle.
The grave site of Australia's most notorious bushranger was discovered after historians and archeologists unearthed an old Department of Justice document yielding a vital clue.
Bone hunters during the week finally found an unknown mass grave where the remains of Kelly and other executed prisoners - removed from the Old Melbourne Gaol when it closed in 1929 - were interred at Pentridge.
"We have still some testing to do, but it's pretty clear we have found them," Heritage Victoria Senior Archeologist Jeremy Smith said yesterday.
Bones from the mass grave site, believed to belong to five individual prisoners, have been sent to the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine at Southbank.
Planning Minister Justin Madden yesterday confirmed the find almost certainly included the grave of Ned Kelly.
"Heritage Victoria has co-ordinated extensive archeological and historical investigations, which began in December 2006 after the possibility of multiple burial areas at the former prison site came to light," Mr Madden said.
He said historical evidence strongly suggested the remains of about 32 executed prisoners, including Ned Kelly, were exhumed from the Old Melbourne Gaol and re-interred at Pentridge in 1929.
Mr Smith said the identification of individuals might prove difficult because of decomposition and the mingling of remains.
"Ned Kelly's remains were . . . not handled with a great degree of care," Mr Smith said.
Mr Smith said it was possible Kelly's skull and other body parts had been stolen immediately following his execution.
The graves were found near the eastern end of the old F Division.
Plans for the remains have not been finalised, but a publicly accessible cemetery and rose garden will be created at Pentridge.
It will feature historical story boards and information about Victoria's penal system and executed prisoners.
Last month, the Department of Human Services issued a licence for human remains to be exhumed from the Pentridge site.
Kelly was hanged at Melbourne Gaol on November 11, 1880, for crimes including murder.
Edward "Ned" Kelly (c. January 1855 – 11 November 1880) is Australia's most infamous Bushrangers, and, to some, a folk hero for his defiance of the colonial authorities. Ned Kelly was born north of Melbourne to an Irish convict father, and as a young man he clashed with the police. Ned had opportunities to become something in life. He was offered an apprenticeship as a stonemason, an honorable occupation at the time. Following an incident at his home in 1878, police parties searched for him in the bush. After he murdered three policemen, the Colony of Victoria proclaimed Ned and his gang wanted outlaws. A final violent confrontation with police took place at Glenrowan. Kelly, dressed in home-made plate metal armour and helmet, was captured and sent to trial. He was hanged for multiple murder at Melbourne Gaol in 1880. His daring and notoriety made him an iconic figure in Australian history, folk lore, literature, art and film.
Ned Kelly's bones spark outrage among victims
By Laurie Nowell
VICTIMS of crime groups have slammed plans to commemorate Ned Kelly at a cemetery and rose garden on the site of Melbourne's old Pentridge Prison.
Plans for the garden and a historical display emerged after Ned Kelly's last resting place was found among bones dug up last week at the former prison site.
Heritage Victoria plans to create the garden and re-inter remains found in an archaeological dig.
But Crime Victims Support Association chief Noel McNamara said yesterday the plan was "not on".
"We wouldn't go along with that - its just glorifying mass murderers," he said. "There could be grandkids or great-grandkids who knew or know about the victims of these people."
Mr McNamara said Ned Kelly was a genuine historical figure, but that his remains should be re-interred at Glenrowan.
"Ned was probably a cop killer and a horse thief, but he is a bit of legendary figure. He should be removed to Glenrowan with the rest of the historical stuff," he said.
"But the others are just scumbags - the lowest of the low. And there's no way we should be glorifying these people."
The bodies found at Pentridge were put there in 1929 after Old Melbourne Gaol closed.
Archaeologists working in the first pit to be opened last week exhumed two layers of coffins and found evidence of a third layer.
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