Christmas in Kelly Land [Sharon Hollingsworth]

Joe Byrne's and Aaron Sherritt's former schoolmate, James Wallace (who became a school teacher himself) was a police spy who also allegedly helped the Kelly gang, a "double agent,"  if you will, as Ian Jones calls him. During the hunt for the Kelly Gang Wallace wrote several articles for the Wangaratta Despatch newspaper, one of them being "Christmas in Kelly Land." In the Royal Commission Wallace refers to it as "a series of romance." In 'A Short Life' Ian Jones refers to it as a "satirical serial." I don't know of anyone who has seen or read it, so I have no idea if it references the Gang or if it is just set in Kelly country. 

Still, it is a great title!

If anyone runs across this series in their library searches, please share your findings with us. It would be most appreciated. Please, don't be miserably miserly (bah, humbug!) and keep it to yourself, ok? :)

Speaking of Christmas in Kelly Land, The South Australia Register had the following tidbit:

Sydney. July 11. It is stated by a gentleman who has just returned from the country recently infested by the Kelly gang that, whilst in conversation with the members of the Kelly family, he learned that on last Christmas Day the whole of them, including the members of the gang, sat down to dinner together, and he was assured that the police knew of the gathering. The party was not molested, and they had not the slightest fear of being interfered with.



Then, for the other side of the coin, the Mercury Hobart had the following under the "Circular Notes" column written by  "The Vagabond" -

But the Sydney journals delight in criticizing the conduct of the Victorian police, and the most unfair and scandalous charges are made against that body and the Chief Commissioner, Captain Standish. For instance, the S. M. Herald today contains a statement that last Christmas Day the outlaws all dined together at the house of Byrne's mother, that the police knew, and did not interfere. Now, I have no hesitation in branding this as a lie on the face of it, and no respectable journal would publish such a libel.

Despite the Vagabond's misgivings, I would like to think that the gang had a respite from the storm, so to speak, and were able to spend a brief Yuletide sojourn with loved ones.

I really hope that the following bit from The Mercury Hobart in December of 1878 was true:

The general impression among experienced bushmen is that the gang are comfortably housed and quietly enjoying their Christmas.

I hope that all the readers of this blog are doing the same!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!