Article Alert: Hunt for Relatives of Policeman Slain by Ned Kelly Gang

from google alerts...

The Herald Sun of June 4, 2012 has an article entitled "Hunt for Relatives of Policeman Slain by Ned Kelly Gang." You have to sign up to be able to read it in full, but it does start off with:

"A policeman killed by the Kelly Gang is at the centre of one of the force's oldest and most unusual "cold case" investigations.
Police historians have appealed to the public for clues to help them track down the families of Constable Michael Scanlan and two other murdered police.
The Police Historical Society needs to find descendants of the three
men so it can get permission to restore their neglected graves...."





It went on to say that Scanlan was single and the police force knew of no next of kin.

For more (you do have to sign up to read):

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/true-crime-scene/hunt-for-relatives-of-policeman-slain-by-ned-kelly-gang/story-fnat7jnn-1226381939511

Regarding Scanlan having no known next of kin (to claim his belongings), remember where in McIntyre's unpublished memoirs there was a letter from another policeman saying:

"....I have to sleep in the store room on an old gun case. My pillow is made up of a kerosene tin and a bundle of unclaimed clothes. Poor old Scanlon all his things are in here.."

Also, bookmarked under my favorites for a while has been this page:

http://fossahistoricalsociety.com/download_the_book.html

Click on "chapter 27: Fossa Personalities" for some background on Scanlan's life.









Note that in Corfield's Ned Kelly Encyclopaedia it gives Scanlan's birthplace of Fossa as Foosa.  Why am I not surprised?