The Complete Inner History of the KellyGang and their Pursuers (66)

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CHAPTER XVIII

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The man threw up his arm, and he (Steele) fired at him.  The man (Reardon) crept on his stomach, and crept into the house.  He (Steele) seemed like as if he was excited.  He fired from the tree when he first was there.  He fired when I could see nothing to fire at.  I did not see that he had been drinking.  When he came first in the morning he came to where Constable Kelly and I were standing, and we went to tell him about the outlaws being in the house, and he would not wait; he rushed over to a tree close to the house, leaving his men to place themselves.  He did not place his own men or anything — he would not wait.”

Question (by Commission) — Who placed his men? — The senior constable took two, and the others went by themselves. (RC11145)

Question — You recollect you are on oath; are you quite positive in those statements you have made? — I am.

Question — And that young Reardon was not crawling? — He was not, not when he came out.

Question — And the man that held up his hands after, you say Steele fired at him — Yes.

Question — We have it in evidence that the elder Reardon fell on his knees and belly and crawled in — That is what I say.  I would not swear it was Reardon, or young Reardon, but those that came out after Mrs Reardon.

Question — You have no doubt in your mind that this was a woman? — Any man could see her and hear her voice.

Question — You had no suspicion in your mind that it was one of the outlaws — None at all.

Question — You could tell the voice? — Yes.

Question — Sergeant Steele had the same opportunity of knowing that as you? — Just the same.

Question — Did he make any remark when you said you would shoot him if he fired again? — No; the only one was that he had shot Mrs Jones in the ——.

 Constable William Phillips

On oath on June 9, 1881, said:—“I saw Mrs Reardon come out of the house.”

Question — The first thing I heard was Steele challenging somebody and firing, and then I heard a woman screaming; and with that, from the front of the house several shots came up.  I heard Constable Arthur say, “Do not shoot — that is an innocent woman,” or “That is a woman and children” — something to that effect? (RC11318)

Question — Was there any difficulty in yourself, Arthur, or Steele knowing that is was a female? — Not the slightest.

Question — Before he fired you could see distinctly it was a woman and children? — Yes, it was bright moonlight.

Question — Did Steele shoot immediately he challenged them? — Immediately.

Question — Did you hear him (Steele) say anything? — First, I asked him what he was shooting at, and he said, “By Christ, I have shot old mother Jones in the ——”; and I said, “It is a feather in your cap.”

Question — Did you see what happened after? What did the woman do? — She was singing out and went out of the place.  Steele was at some (one) of the trees there, and she walked down.  The fence was between her and Steele, and that was what saved her, no doubt.  After he fired there was loud talking going on and screaming, and I do not know who took her away.

Question — She was taken away, at all events? — Yes, and did not go back to the house.

Question — Did you see any other figure besides her? — No, only the boy.

Question — Where was he? — He was following her, and all at once I saw him run back to the house.

Question — Did you see that he had hold of a child?—No, I could not swear that.

Question — Did you hear anyone challenging the boy? — Sergeant Steele was the only one who challenged them.

Question — Did you see whether the boy was crawling? — Walking.

James Reardon - Railway line repairer

On May 14, 1881, on his oath, stated to the Royal Commission:—”Shortly after two o’clock on Sunday morning, June 27, 1880, I heard the dogs barking, making a row, and I got up and dressed myself and went outside the door and heard a horse whinnying down the railway line, and went towards where I heard the horse.  I thought it was the horse of a friend, and I went down, and Sullivan was coming through the railway fence, and I said, ‘What is the matter?’ and he said, ‘I am taken prisoner by this man.’ Ned Kelly came up and put a revolver to my cheek and said, ‘What is your name?’ and I said, ‘Reardon,’ and he said, ‘I want you to come up and break the line.’ He said, I was in Beechworth last night, and I had a great contract with the police; I have shot a lot of them, and I expect a train from Benalla with a lot of police and blackfellows, and I am going to kill all the ——.’ I said, ‘For God’s sake do not take me; I have a large family to look after.’ He said, ‘I have got several others up, but they are no use to me,’ and I said, ‘They can do it without me’ and he said, ‘You must do it or I will shoot you’—and he took my wife and seven or eight children to the station. (RC7607)

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This document gives you the text of this book about the KellyGang. The text has been retyped from a copy of the original. We have taken care to reproduce this document but areas of the original text may been damaged. We also apologise for any typographical errors. JJ Kenneally was one of the first authors to tell this story from the KellyGang's point of view