📍Kelly Family Home, Kelly Street, Beveridge, Victoria 3753, Australia
1859 – 1864“I was born at Beveridge, north of Melbourne, the son of John Kelly, known as Red, an Irish convict who had been transported to Van Diemen's Land for stealing pigs, and Ellen Quinn, whose family had also come from Ireland. Around 1860, when I was about five, my father built our home on the slope of the hill at Beveridge, a small cottage looking out over the plains. It was a hard life on poor land, and the Irish families of the district were often treated with suspicion by police and squatters alike. My father taught me the bush, how to ride and work cattle, and my mother was fierce and loyal to her children. I went to the local Catholic school and learned to read and write. In 1864 we moved north to a farm at Avenel. There, when I was about eleven, I pulled a younger boy, Dick Shelton, out of a flooded creek, and his family gave me a green silk sash as a reward. I wore it with pride, and I wore it under my armour years later. Not long after, my father fell into trouble with the law and was soon gone, leaving my mother with seven children. Poverty, my family's clashes with the police and my own temper set me on the path that made me a bushranger. My story is still argued over, and in my Jerilderie Letter I tried to explain the injustices I felt the poor Irish selectors suffered. The cottage at Beveridge where I spent my early years has been restored by Heritage Victoria, so that people can see the humble beginnings of a story that still divides Australia.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today