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Story of the KellyGang - the Royal Commission evidence
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== The Royal Commission evidence for 6/7/1881 ==
''''''
=== full text ===
(see also introduction to [[Royal Commission report 6/7/1881|day 36]])
[[../../people/peD_G/fitzpatrickAPC.html|'''Const Alexander Fitzpatrick''']] '''sworn and examined'''
<span id="rc12801">[[#rc12801|12801]]</span> ''By the Commission''— What are you?— Timekeeper and clerk for Mr. Robb, the contractor.
<span id="rc12802">[[#rc12802|12802]]</span> You were in the police force formerly?— I was.
<span id="rc12803">[[#rc12803|12803]]</span> Do you remember the time that the four constables were shot in the [[Stringy Bark Creek|Wombat ranges]]?— I do.
<span id="rc12804">[[#rc12804|12804]]</span> You were stationed in the North-Eastern district at that time?— Yes.
<span id="rc12805">[[#rc12805|12805]]</span> Where were you stationed immediately prior to that time?— I beg your pardon, I think I misunderstood you. I was not stationed in the North-Eastern district at the time those men were shot. I had been just transferred from there to [[Melbourne police Head Quarters|Melbourne]] .
<span id="rc12806">[[#rc12806|l2806]]</span> You had been in the district for how long before they were shot?— Nearly twelve months before.
<span id="rc12807">[[#rc12807|12807]]</span> Where were you stationed during the time you were in the district?— At Benalla and Beechworth. About eight months at [[Benalla Police Station|Benalla]] and two months at Beechworth.
<span id="rc12808">[[#rc12808|12808]]</span> Were you going to any other station from Beechworth?— No. I was just transferred from the district for my own safety to [[Richmond|Richmond depot]].
<span id="rc12809">[[#rc12809|12809]]</span> Will you state the circumstances that occurred at the time that you went to [[Kelly Home|Mrs. Kelly’s]] hut?— That was on the [[15-04-78 Fitzgerald incident|15th April 1878]] .
<span id="rc12810">[[#rc12810|12810]]</span> Where were you stationed at that time?— At Benalla.
<span id="rc12811">[[#rc12811|12811]]</span> Were you in the police district where Mrs. Kelly's house is?— Yes.
<span id="rc12812">[[#rc12812|12812]]</span> Were you authorized by any warrant to seize any of the Kellys for horsestealing at the time you went?— I noticed in the police gazette that there was a warrant issued by the [[Chiltern|Chiltern]] bench for the arrest of [[Dan Kelly|Dan Kelly]] and [[Jack Lloyd Jnr|John Lloyd]].
<span id="rc12813">[[#rc12813|12813]]</span> Is it usual for policemen to attempt to arrest prisoners without having the warrant in their possession?— It is.
<span id="rc12814">[[#rc12814|12814]]</span> That is they are bound by their regulations to arrest a criminal when they find him?— Wherever they find him, if they are certain there is a warrant in existence
<span id="rc12815">[[#rc12815|12815]]</span> Was there any regulation in that district making provision that no single constable should go to arrest characters such as Dan Kelly?— I was not aware of any.
<span id="rc12816">[[#rc12816|12816]]</span> You thought you were fully justified in attempting to arrest them?— Yes. I drew the attention of the [[Whelan|sergeant]] was stationed there to this warrant being issued for Dan Kelly .
<span id="rc12817">[[#rc12817|12817]]</span> Did he agree with you?— Yes, he agreed with my arresting him, and told me to be careful.
<span id="rc12818">[[#rc12818|12818]]</span> Why careful?— They were known to be dangerous characters at that time by the police, and likely to resist the police.
<span id="rc12819">[[#rc12819|12819]]</span> Were you long in the house before you attempted to arrest any of them?— I went a second time to the house before I made the arrest. The reason I went to the place at all was I knew I was capable of taking Dan Kelly away if he resisted; and there was a warrant issued at that time for [[Ned Kelly|Ned Kelly]] , and the local police were in search of him for some weeks previous to that.
<span id="rc12820">[[#rc12820|12820]]</span> You understood he was not likely to be near the place?— Yes, not near the place.
<span id="rc12821">[[#rc12821|12821]]</span> Will you tell the Commission what occurred?— When I went first to the place Dan was not there, only Mrs. Kelly and some of the younger children of the place, and I entered into conversation for a while to see if there was any chance of Dan putting in an appearance.
<span id="rc12822">[[#rc12822|12822]]</span> She knew who you were?— Yes; and I drew her attention to the sound of some one cutting wood behind the hut on the creek where they lived; and I said, “I will go up and see who they are.” I went up there and found [[William Williamson, Brickey|Williamson]] , a man that used to live with them, splitting rails, and asked him had he a license, and he said no, he did not require one, splitting on selected land; so, after I had spent a few moments with him, I was heading for Greta . I was going straight there–the station I was en route for. I was on horseback. I had occasion to pass by Kelly 's new hut at the time, the one they were living at at the time. As I was passing that I noticed two horsemen entering the slip panels in front of the old hut. I rode round to where they were, and by the time I got round one of the men disappeared, and [[William Skillion|Skillion]] was holding one horse by the mane, and hand the other horse, the one he had been riding, with the saddle and bridle on–he was holding that, and a third horse he had caught in the panel just after coming in. The horse that had been ridden had the bridle taken off. I asked Skillion who was riding the horse. He told me he did not know. I examined the mare, and saw it was the one Dan Kelly was riding two or three days previous to that when I had seen him. I said, “That is Dan Kelly 's mare,” and he said, “Yes.” I said, “Where is he?” and he said, “Up at the house, I suppose.” That is the new hut. So I rode up to the place again, and called out “ Dan ,” and he came out, and as soon as I saw him I walked up to him. He hand his hat and coat off, and a knife and fork in his hand. I said, “I am going to arrest you on a charge of horse stealing, Dan .” He said, “very well, you will let me have something to eat before you take me?” I said, “All right.” He said, “I have been out riding all day;” So he went back into the hut, and I followed him in. As soon as I went inside [[Mrs Ellen Kelly|Mrs. Kelly]] accosted me, calling me “a deceitful little.” She said she always thought I was. She said, “You will not take him out of this to-night.” I said it was no use talking that way, that I had to do my duty; and Dan says, “Shut up, mother, that is all right.” I was scarcely in the place three minutes, when Ned Kelly rushed in and fired a shot at me and said, “Out of this, you.”....
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[[Royal Commission report day 36 page 3|previous page]] / [[Royal Commission report day 36 page 5|next page]]
== The Royal Commission evidence for 6/7/1881 ==
''''''
=== full text ===
(see also introduction to [[Royal Commission report 6/7/1881|day 36]])
[[../../people/peD_G/fitzpatrickAPC.html|'''Const Alexander Fitzpatrick''']] '''sworn and examined'''
<span id="rc12801">[[#rc12801|12801]]</span> ''By the Commission''— What are you?— Timekeeper and clerk for Mr. Robb, the contractor.
<span id="rc12802">[[#rc12802|12802]]</span> You were in the police force formerly?— I was.
<span id="rc12803">[[#rc12803|12803]]</span> Do you remember the time that the four constables were shot in the [[Stringy Bark Creek|Wombat ranges]]?— I do.
<span id="rc12804">[[#rc12804|12804]]</span> You were stationed in the North-Eastern district at that time?— Yes.
<span id="rc12805">[[#rc12805|12805]]</span> Where were you stationed immediately prior to that time?— I beg your pardon, I think I misunderstood you. I was not stationed in the North-Eastern district at the time those men were shot. I had been just transferred from there to [[Melbourne police Head Quarters|Melbourne]] .
<span id="rc12806">[[#rc12806|l2806]]</span> You had been in the district for how long before they were shot?— Nearly twelve months before.
<span id="rc12807">[[#rc12807|12807]]</span> Where were you stationed during the time you were in the district?— At Benalla and Beechworth. About eight months at [[Benalla Police Station|Benalla]] and two months at Beechworth.
<span id="rc12808">[[#rc12808|12808]]</span> Were you going to any other station from Beechworth?— No. I was just transferred from the district for my own safety to [[Richmond|Richmond depot]].
<span id="rc12809">[[#rc12809|12809]]</span> Will you state the circumstances that occurred at the time that you went to [[Kelly Home|Mrs. Kelly’s]] hut?— That was on the [[15-04-78 Fitzgerald incident|15th April 1878]] .
<span id="rc12810">[[#rc12810|12810]]</span> Where were you stationed at that time?— At Benalla.
<span id="rc12811">[[#rc12811|12811]]</span> Were you in the police district where Mrs. Kelly's house is?— Yes.
<span id="rc12812">[[#rc12812|12812]]</span> Were you authorized by any warrant to seize any of the Kellys for horsestealing at the time you went?— I noticed in the police gazette that there was a warrant issued by the [[Chiltern|Chiltern]] bench for the arrest of [[Dan Kelly|Dan Kelly]] and [[Jack Lloyd Jnr|John Lloyd]].
<span id="rc12813">[[#rc12813|12813]]</span> Is it usual for policemen to attempt to arrest prisoners without having the warrant in their possession?— It is.
<span id="rc12814">[[#rc12814|12814]]</span> That is they are bound by their regulations to arrest a criminal when they find him?— Wherever they find him, if they are certain there is a warrant in existence
<span id="rc12815">[[#rc12815|12815]]</span> Was there any regulation in that district making provision that no single constable should go to arrest characters such as Dan Kelly?— I was not aware of any.
<span id="rc12816">[[#rc12816|12816]]</span> You thought you were fully justified in attempting to arrest them?— Yes. I drew the attention of the [[Whelan|sergeant]] was stationed there to this warrant being issued for Dan Kelly .
<span id="rc12817">[[#rc12817|12817]]</span> Did he agree with you?— Yes, he agreed with my arresting him, and told me to be careful.
<span id="rc12818">[[#rc12818|12818]]</span> Why careful?— They were known to be dangerous characters at that time by the police, and likely to resist the police.
<span id="rc12819">[[#rc12819|12819]]</span> Were you long in the house before you attempted to arrest any of them?— I went a second time to the house before I made the arrest. The reason I went to the place at all was I knew I was capable of taking Dan Kelly away if he resisted; and there was a warrant issued at that time for [[Ned Kelly|Ned Kelly]] , and the local police were in search of him for some weeks previous to that.
<span id="rc12820">[[#rc12820|12820]]</span> You understood he was not likely to be near the place?— Yes, not near the place.
<span id="rc12821">[[#rc12821|12821]]</span> Will you tell the Commission what occurred?— When I went first to the place Dan was not there, only Mrs. Kelly and some of the younger children of the place, and I entered into conversation for a while to see if there was any chance of Dan putting in an appearance.
<span id="rc12822">[[#rc12822|12822]]</span> She knew who you were?— Yes; and I drew her attention to the sound of some one cutting wood behind the hut on the creek where they lived; and I said, “I will go up and see who they are.” I went up there and found [[William Williamson, Brickey|Williamson]] , a man that used to live with them, splitting rails, and asked him had he a license, and he said no, he did not require one, splitting on selected land; so, after I had spent a few moments with him, I was heading for Greta . I was going straight there–the station I was en route for. I was on horseback. I had occasion to pass by Kelly 's new hut at the time, the one they were living at at the time. As I was passing that I noticed two horsemen entering the slip panels in front of the old hut. I rode round to where they were, and by the time I got round one of the men disappeared, and [[William Skillion|Skillion]] was holding one horse by the mane, and hand the other horse, the one he had been riding, with the saddle and bridle on–he was holding that, and a third horse he had caught in the panel just after coming in. The horse that had been ridden had the bridle taken off. I asked Skillion who was riding the horse. He told me he did not know. I examined the mare, and saw it was the one Dan Kelly was riding two or three days previous to that when I had seen him. I said, “That is Dan Kelly 's mare,” and he said, “Yes.” I said, “Where is he?” and he said, “Up at the house, I suppose.” That is the new hut. So I rode up to the place again, and called out “ Dan ,” and he came out, and as soon as I saw him I walked up to him. He hand his hat and coat off, and a knife and fork in his hand. I said, “I am going to arrest you on a charge of horse stealing, Dan .” He said, “very well, you will let me have something to eat before you take me?” I said, “All right.” He said, “I have been out riding all day;” So he went back into the hut, and I followed him in. As soon as I went inside [[Mrs Ellen Kelly|Mrs. Kelly]] accosted me, calling me “a deceitful little.” She said she always thought I was. She said, “You will not take him out of this to-night.” I said it was no use talking that way, that I had to do my duty; and Dan says, “Shut up, mother, that is all right.” I was scarcely in the place three minutes, when Ned Kelly rushed in and fired a shot at me and said, “Out of this, you.”....
=== Previous page / Next page ===
<br />
{{MicroficheCopy}}<br />
'''The [[Royal Commission report day 35 page 1|previous day]] / [[Royal Commission report day 37 page 1|next day]] . . . Royal Commission [[Royal Commission Index|index]]''' [[RC_index.html|RC_index.html]]
[[Category:Royal Commission]] [[Category:December 1706]] [[Category:Royal Commission]] [[Category:Commisioner Standish]] [[Category:history]]
MediaWiki:Sidebar
{{^|Original page location \documents\RoyalCommission\RC810706_36_04_12801.html}}
