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This work has teaching resources.
Teacher's notes from publisher's website.
Notes
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Reading age: 8+
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Abridged for young people.
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Author's note: In this version of the Jerilderie Letter, I have put in some punctuation and tinkered with the spelling and grammar. I have put the events in chronological order and taken out some of the repetition and the asides where Ned [Kelly] strayed from the subject. My aim has been to make Ned's words clear without losing his wonderful turn of phrase, his unique style or his wicked sense of humour.' (Introduction, p.2)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also sound recording.
Related Works
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y
The Jerilderie Letter
1879
(Manuscript version)x400813
Z855917
1879
single work
correspondence
(taught in 3 units)
'I have been wronged and my mother and four or five men lagged innocent and is my brothers and sisters and my mother not to be pitied also who has no alternative only to put up with the brutal and cowardly conduct of a parcel of big ugly fat-necked wombat headed big bellied magpie legged narrow hipped splaw-footed sons of Irish Bailiffs or english landlords which is better known as Officers of Justice or Victorian Police…
'Outlaw, murderer, self-proclaimed victim, Ned Kelly is an Australian icon. But who was he? Kelly’s extraordinary achievement is to have provided his own answer to that question. The Jerilderie Letter is his remarkable manifesto and a startling record of his voice.
'Kelly delivered his letter, which Joe Byrne had diligently written out, on Monday 10 February 1879, immediately after his gang had held up the Bank of New South Wales in Jerilderie. He gives an impassioned defence of his actions, condemns those who have wronged him, and sends a chilling warning to those who may yet defy him.
'This illustrated edition, transcribed from the manuscript now housed in the State Library of Victoria, includes a fascinating new introduction by the historian Alex McDermott. The Jerilderie Letter remains one of the most astonishing documents in Australian history.' (Publication summary)
Works about this Work
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Instilling Postcolonial Nostalgias : Ned Kelly Narratives for Children
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Studies , June vol. 36 no. 2 2012; (p. 191-206) 'This essay examines books for children focusing on Ned Kelly and the Kelly gang, published from 2000 to 2011. Drawing upon theories of narrative, memory and nostalgia it analyses the narrative strategies and visual images through which these texts position readers, and their investment in formulations of the Australian nation. The essay argues that these books function as exercises in restorative nostalgia, producing palatable versions of Kelly as an Australian hero, and articulating connections between the Kelly legend and Australian national identity. By foregrounding Kelly's Irishness and by representing him as a "good badman", these Ned Kelly narratives for children, which range across fiction, non-fiction, picture book and play script, reinscribe versions of national identity which occlude more complicated narratives. In particular, their emphasis on struggles between Irish and English settlers, and between selectors and squatters, displaces Indigenous histories, colonial violence, and systemic discrimination against those deemed outsiders to the nation.' (Editor's abstract)
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[Review] Ned Kelly's Jerilderie Letter
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Margin , July/August no. 78 2009; (p. 42-43)
— Review of Ned Kelly's Jerilderie Letter 2007 single work information book -
The Children's Book Council of Australia Judges' Report 2008
2008
single work
column
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , August vol. 52 no. 3 2008; (p. 3 - 9) -
Volatile Era
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , February no. 298 2008; (p. 58-59)
— Review of Songlines and Stone Axes : Transport, Trade and Travel in Australia 2007 single work non-fiction ; Ned Kelly's Jerilderie Letter 2007 single work information book
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Volatile Era
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , February no. 298 2008; (p. 58-59)
— Review of Songlines and Stone Axes : Transport, Trade and Travel in Australia 2007 single work non-fiction ; Ned Kelly's Jerilderie Letter 2007 single work information book -
[Review] Ned Kelly's Jerilderie Letter
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Margin , July/August no. 78 2009; (p. 42-43)
— Review of Ned Kelly's Jerilderie Letter 2007 single work information book -
The Children's Book Council of Australia Judges' Report 2008
2008
single work
column
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , August vol. 52 no. 3 2008; (p. 3 - 9) -
Instilling Postcolonial Nostalgias : Ned Kelly Narratives for Children
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Studies , June vol. 36 no. 2 2012; (p. 191-206) 'This essay examines books for children focusing on Ned Kelly and the Kelly gang, published from 2000 to 2011. Drawing upon theories of narrative, memory and nostalgia it analyses the narrative strategies and visual images through which these texts position readers, and their investment in formulations of the Australian nation. The essay argues that these books function as exercises in restorative nostalgia, producing palatable versions of Kelly as an Australian hero, and articulating connections between the Kelly legend and Australian national identity. By foregrounding Kelly's Irishness and by representing him as a "good badman", these Ned Kelly narratives for children, which range across fiction, non-fiction, picture book and play script, reinscribe versions of national identity which occlude more complicated narratives. In particular, their emphasis on struggles between Irish and English settlers, and between selectors and squatters, displaces Indigenous histories, colonial violence, and systemic discrimination against those deemed outsiders to the nation.' (Editor's abstract)
Awards
- Victoria,
