Royal Commission report day 27 page 4
The Royal Commission evidence for 8/6/1881
(see also introduction to day 27)
Mrs Margaret Reardon giving evidence
10621 Do you know whose voice it was?— Not at that time I did not.
10622 Was it Sergeant Steele?— It was Sergeant Steele, but at the time I did not know who it was; I saw him afterwards. I put my baby under my arm and held up my hand, arid my son let go one hand and held the other child by it, and we went straight on. The man commenced firing and he kept on firing against us.
10623 Did he fire at you?— I cannot say he was firing at us, but against us.
10624 He was firing in your direction?— Yes, and I got close to the fence, and his tree stood at some distance from the fence of Jones's yard, and as I did I saw a gun pointed at me. I then turned round and went down along the fence towards the railway station, and two shots went directly after me, and two went through the shawl that was covering the baby. I felt my arm shaking, and I said, “Oh, you have shot my child.”
10625 Have you the shawl now?— Yes, the shawl is here—[ The same was produced and the hole in it examined.]
10626 Are there two holes, or was it from one shot?— I do not know whether it was two or one, and the holes have got a good deal larger since. The shawl was doubled and wrapped round the baby.
10627 How many holes were there together when you first looked at it?— Those were all that were at first.
10628 How many holes are there together?— Two.
10629 Were those two distinct holes?— Yes.
10630 You are satisfied it was a bullet?— I could not tell whether it was a bullet or what it was.
10631 But it was from the police firing?— Yes, it came from a gun, for I was very close to it.
10632 Where was your son at this time?— My son was close beside me, coming about a yard away from me, and he said, “Mother, come back; you will be shot”; and I said, “I will not go back; I might as well be shot outside as inside”; but I said, “I do not think the coward can shoot me.” My son turned away and walked back towards the house, pulling the little child by the left hand, and with the right hand up. I looked round and saw him going, and that was the last I saw of him.
10633 At that time were there only yourself, your son, and two other children making your escape from the hotel?— I believe the father was also, but I did not see him.
10634 If the father was there, there were no others?— Not that I knew of.
10635 Was it clear enough daylight to see?— It was quite bright; 1cannot say whether it was daylight or moonlight.
10636 Sufficiently light to tell a man?— Yes; I heard the police call to Sergeant Steele, saying, “Do not shoot her; you can see it is a women with a child in her arms.”(JJK)
10637 Was that from the house?— No, it was from a policeman close beside him.
10638 Do you know who said that?— I found out afterwards that it was a constable named Arthur. I did not know at the time, for I did not know any then.
10639 Was your son close to you?— About two yards from me.
10640 If the man had been firing at your boy, could he have struck you?— I could not say.
10641 How many shots were there?— Just as I turned two shots went past me. I did not see my son shot. He got shot when retreating to the hotel. He said it was just as he was going in the door, and he fell against the door.
10642 Did any one, before the shots came, call out to you to stop, or they would fire?— No, they did not. Only one called out what I have said, “Put up your hands, or I will shoot you like dogs,” and we went where the man called us.
10643 It was either moonlight or daylight, so that it was not possible for you to have been mistaken for a male?— I could not be.
10644 You dressed in your ordinary female attire?— I was; and, not only that, but they had been firing from the station at me. There was a gutter along there; and, when Steele commenced shooting at me, they all commenced shooting at me from the other place.
10645 Do you recollect the exact words Constable Arthur used?— I cannot say exactly, but I heard him say at the first set out, “Do not you see it is a woman with a child in her arms”; and when those two shots were fired at me, I heard him speaking very angrily, and then the firing ceased. I could not say the exact words, but I heard him say about “shoot” and “her.”
10646 Do you know whether Ned Kelly had been captured before or after this time?— I know he was captured after what I am now relating. I walked straight on to the slip panel, and I got behind a tree, and, when all the firing had ceased, I called out again for them to spare my life—that I was but a woman, and for a long time nobody spoke. And then Guard Dowsett came out from the railway station, and, as I was not able to get there alone, he helped me to the station. I do not know how he got me there, whether it was over the fence or through.
10647 How long after you arrived at the station; was it before you saw your son?— I did not see my son until about ten o'clock in the day.
10648 He remained at the hotel, after being shot, until the male prisoners were released?— Yes.
10649 And then for the first time, you knew he had been shot in the morning?— Yes.
10650 Has the attempt to extract the bullet been unsuccessful?— There has been no attempt made yet to extract the bullet......
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