Kate Kelly (outlaw)
Catherine Ada Kelly was the younger sister of famous Australian outlaw Ned Kelly. She died drowning in Lake Forbes.
Early life
Kate Kelly was born in Beveridge, Victoria, Australia, on 12 July 1863 to parents John and Ellen Kelly, their seventh child. The family moved to Avenel soon after her birth, where another child, Grace, was born. John Kelly died of dropsy when Kate was four years old. Ellen Kelly then moved the family to her sister's house at Greta. One year later, the family moved once again, to a two-room hut on their own land at nearby Eleven Mile Creek. Kate helped her mother bring up the family, which included three more children by Ellen's second husband George King.The Fitzpatrick incident
The Kellys had already had a long history of trouble with the police when the Fitzpatrick incident occurred.Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick was to relieve the officer in charge at Greta, and he attended the Kelly homestead en route from Benalla to Greta to execute a warrant that had been issued for Dan Kelly for horse stealing. Many claim that Fitzpatrick was drunk when he attended the Kelly homestead. He stopped at the Winton hotel on the way and had one brandy and lemonade, that was later confirmed by the hotel owner. Kate Kelly was present, but Fitzpatrick did not make an improper approach to her. While there attempting to arrest Dan, Ned Kelly entered the home and fired a total of three shots at the officer. The second shot hitting the officer in the left wrist. At the same time Ellen Kelly, Kate’s mother, attacked Fitzpatrick with a fire shovel, hitting him over the head knocking him unconscious. During the fracas Dan Kelly took the officers revolver and held it on him. It was later returned to him that night minus the ammunition. The suggestion that the officer made improper advances towards Kate Kelly, was made up by Kate Kelly, some ten months after the event, to discredit him and the police in general.
Fitzpatrick returned to Benalla and received medical treatment for his wound. The next day Ellen Kelly along with William Williamson and William Skillion were arrested and charged with being accessories to attempted murder of Constable Fitzpatrick. They were found guilty and sentenced to 6 years jail each.
Constable Fitzpatrick gave evidence at the trial of Ellen Kelly who was charged with being an accessory to the attempted murder of Fitzpatrick. A jury of 12 found her guilty and she was given a harsh sentence of 3 years hard labour.
Fitzpatrick’s statement of the events was corroborated by William Williamson while in jail, when interviewed by Captain Standish, the Chief Commissioner of Police.
See
After Ned Kelly was captured, he was interviewed by a journalist from the Age.
“Reporter: Now Kelly, what is the real history of Fitzpatrick’s business? Did he ever try to take liberties with your sister Kate? Kelly “No that is a foolish story. If he of any other policeman tried to take liberties with my sister, Victoria would not hold him.”
Although Ned Kelly claimed that Fitzpatrick was the cause of the outbreak, in fact he was a victim of Kelly’s criminality, as just before this event, police further north was dismantling Kelly’s massive horse stealing network, with a number of arrests. A warrant for horse stealing against Ned Kelly existed at the time Fitzpatrick went to the Kelly home, but he was not aware a warrant for Ned had been issued. Ned and his brother Dan fled to the Wombat Ranges, where a few months later they murdered three of the four police officers who were camped at Stringybark Creek.
With their mother in prison and their brothers on the run, Kate Kelly and her sister Margaret looked after the younger children.
Notoriety
writes that the police mistook Kate for Steven when the latter would cross-dress and demonstrate his horsemanship. They also mistook Mrs Skillion, with whom they were not acquainted, who had considerable horsemanship skills, for Kate.Following Ned's arrest, Kate would often attempt to visit him in prison, as well as raising money for legal fees. She joined the Society for the Abolition of Capital Punishment, which campaigned for Ned's death sentence to be changed. Kate was reported as collecting signatures for a petition of clemency, and later presented them with a personal appeal to the Governor, the Marquis of Normanby. Ned was hanged on 11 November 1880.
Later life
Following Ned's hanging, Kate disappeared from Victoria. She was spotted performing as "Ada" in a Sydney "Wild West Show" run by Lance Skuthorpe, and then in Adelaide under the names Ada Hennessey and Kate Ambrose. She eventually ceased performing due to ill health. She worked briefly as a barmaid at Hill Scott's Hotel in southern Adelaide, before her waning health forced her to return home. She worked as a domestic servant in Wangaratta, and a housemaid in Laceby, followed by a series of domestic service jobs around the area.On 25 November 1888 she married a horse-tailer, William Henry Foster, and settled down in the town of Forbes. The couple had six children, though three died in infancy. Their marriage may not have been a happy one; on 20 May 1898 Foster appeared on charges of "using indecent language" while addressing his wife within the "hearing of the public" and he was fined. The couple do not seem to have lived together for the next five months, as Foster was reported to have been visiting his wife the night before her disappearance, before returning to the station he worked at. She gave birth to her sixth child, Catherine, on 7 September.
Death
On the 5 October, Kate visited a neighbour, asking her to write a message for her, and look after the children, including Catherine. The next day Kate was reported missing, and her body was found eight days later in a lagoon on Condobolin Road near Forbes.She was buried in Forbes Cemetery.
Her newborn daughter died a few weeks later. The remaining children were taken in and brought up by her mother, Ellen, and brother, Jim Kelly. Her headstone was erected around 1910, through the good graces of a former employer.
Kate Kelly in popular culture
The folk song "Ye Sons of Australia" includes a romanticised passage about Kate's role in the Kelly Gang;She was the subject of the 1946 painting Constable Fitzpatrick and Kate Kelly one of Sydney Nolan's Kelly series.
Kate is the main character in Jean Bedford's first novel, Sister Kate.
In the 2003 film Ned Kelly, starring Heath Ledger, Kate is played by Irish actor Kerry Condon.
Australian rock band, The Whitlams, included a song about her, "Kate Kelly" on the 2002 album Torch the Moon. She also inspired an exhibition of work from the artist Gria Shead in 2014.