Title
Reisisting the Siren Call of Empire? Kelly Country during the Boer War and the First World War
Document Type
Book Chapter
Abstract
Although the Kelly Outbreak may have ended with the execution of Ned Kelly in the Old Melbourne Jail in 1880, its legacy lingered on-both in the 'Kelly Country' of North Eastern Victoria and in the wider public imagination, There is little doubt that outsiders tended to regard the Irish-Australian families living in the core of Kelly Country as not only criminally inclined but fundamentally disloyal as well. After all, Ned Kelly had boasted in the Jerilderie Letter of a stratagem that would embroil the British Army-and most historians accept that part of the Glenrowan strategy involved the attempt to create a republic in North Eastern Victoria, The immediate aftermath of Kelly's execution was accompanied by unrest in Kelly Country and the regional police feared the formation of a new gang of bushrangers, or at least some form of armed outbreak, Although this never occurred, the suspicion of disloyalty would resurface during the Boer War and, more sharply, during World War II. Its trigger in both cases was sectarianism.
ANZSRC / FoR Code
2103 HISTORICAL STUDIES
Publication Details
McQuilton, J. 2007, 'Reisisting the Siren Call of Empire? Kelly Country during the Boer War and the First World War', in J. Brownrigg, C. Mongan & R. Reid (eds), Echoes of Irish Australia: Rebellion to Republic, 1 edn, St Clement's Retreat, Galong.