Justice in Kelly Country The Story of the Cop Who Hunted Australia’s Most Notorious Bushrangers

by Strahan, Lachlan

• ISBN13: 9781922633507
• ISBN10: 192263350X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2022-12-01
• Publisher: Monash University Publishing

Summary

Partway through the Jerilderie Letter, Ned Kelly accused Senior Constable Anthony Strahan of threatening him: ‘he would shoot me … like a dog.’ Those few fateful words have echoed through Australian history and been the cause of much bloodshed and violence. They ushered in a national myth: the legend of the Kelly Gang. For two days after Anthony reputedly made his threat, Ned and his gang shot dead three police in an event now known as the Stringybark Creek killings. Ned’s reason for opening fire? He thought one cop was Anthony. Lachlan Strahan, Anthony’s great-great-grandson, grew up believing Ned Kelly was a heroic outlaw and Anthony the ruthless cop who pursued him. Yet as Lachlan began to explore his ancestor’s life, he discovered an alternative story. This is a tale about justice and retribution, morality and vengeance. It is about making a life against the odds in a wild frontier society. It is also a story of inheritance: of the words passed from father to son, and the myths we choose to preserve.

Author Biography

Lachlan Strahan is a historian and the Australian High Commissioner to Solomon Islands. His first book, Australia’s China, has become one of the standard works on Australia–China relations. His second, Day of Reckoning, traced a series of crimes in Papua New Guinea after World War II and was shortlisted for the 2006 NSW Premier’s Australian History Prize.

Table of Contents

Prologue Introduction Part I: Defending the Thin Blue Line Chapter 1: The Boy from Timolin Chapter 2: Ordered Out Like a Dog Chapter 3: Swindle Chapter 4: Vice and Tragedy in Avoca Chapter 5: A Little Child Lost Chapter 6: The Convict Stain Chapter 7: Saucy Jack Part II: The Outrage and the Junction Chapter 8: Something Wicked This Way Comes Chapter 9: Chain Reaction Chapter 10: Judgement Day Chapter 11: Loose Ends Chapter 12: A Master of His Own Domain Part III: The Kelly Outbreak Chapter 13: The Greta Mob Chapter 14: Over the Edge Chapter 15: A Few and Fateful Words Chapter 16: Stringybark Creek Chapter 17: Aftermath Chapter 18: Denouement Chapter 19: Rutherglen Days Chapter 20: A Terror to Evil-Doers Coda Acknowledgements