Edward Ned Kelly who is also known as Ned Kelly is an Australian hero. He was famous for rising against the colonizers of Australia. He is also sometimes referred to as an Australian legend and well known for leading an extraordinary life. The impact of this person was very significant and even today there are films and television serials which are made on him. The fiction on him was highly acclaimed internationally. The importance of Kelly in Australian history can be further detected by the presence of museums totally dedicated to him. But there is a controversy within the country whether Ned Kelly can be called a hero or was he just a criminal. A criminal or a hero he was an Australian in a true sense of the term.
Ned Kelly was born in the year 1854 in Victoria. His father was an Irish convict who was deported to this country. He had seven younger brothers and sisters. He lost his father at the tender age of twelve and had a hard life from that time as his family was extremely poor. This turbulent past had resulted in the rise of Ned Kelly as a notorious rebel. He was arrested for the first time at the age of 14 for assaulting a business man. In his early life he was involved in a series of petty crimes for which he was also taken into custody. Cattle and horse stealing was very common during this time as the land which was given was not fertile enough to make a living and the plots were also very small in size. The land of best quality was in the hands of few wealthy people. In 1871 Ned was arrested and was sentenced for three years.
The event which many scholars think is responsible for the Ned�s transformation is when in 1878 his mother was accused of attacking a police officer and sent to jail. Ned�s name was also involved in this crime. There was no proof of whether he committed it or not. The name of the officer was Fitzpatrick who was attacked by Ned for assaulting his sister. However Ned could not be arrested and there was reward of hundred pounds which was declared for his capture. From this point of time his bush life began and he became a proclaimed outlaw. He was involved in a series of robberies and these were a way of proving his innocence as he wrote a letter to the police after each crime as how he was framed.
Ned Kelly finally fell into the hands of the Australian police in June 1880. While attacking a hotel he and his group were surrounded by the police and during the fight Ned was severely wounded. However he was the only person who survived this rampage. Ned was sentenced to death but thousand of people assembled and protested against this decision. But he had to face his ultimate fate as he was hanged in November 1880 in Melbourne. During the time of his death he was just twenty five years old.
