MORE than 50 Ned Kelly enthusiasts from all across Australia will gather at the Glenrowan pub this weekend to commemorate the siege of Glenrowan.
This includes the organiser of the event, Mark Perry, who has been travelling from Adelaide every year for the past four years.
“We’ve all been interested in the story for many years and many of us are coming together for the first time and rekindling old friendships at Glenrowan.”
Mr Perry himself said he’d been interested in the story of Ned Kelly and his gang since he was 11 years old and read a book on bushrangers that his dad had bought for him.
"I read the chapter on Ned and I was spellbound," he said.
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The siege of Glenrowan took place on June 28, 1880 and Mr Perry said he believes it is one of the most important pieces of Australian history.
“The siege of Glenrowan is a very big event in Australia’s history, it’s up there with the Eureka Stockade and Gallipoli it’s something we should be remembering and be aware of,” he said.
“Ned Kelly is an iconic figure, mainly because of the armour I guess, but he resonates with people.”
According to Mr Perry, the site of the siege is still there in Glenrowan and has been left untouched, making it a landmark.
“The site has survived through the years and its tangible it’s where the Kelly gang were destroyed, it’s important,” he said.
Mr Perry said he is most looking forward to seeing old friends again and discussing the story of the Kelly Gang with likeminded individuals.
“I have just grown to love the story and the Kelly country area and through the process I’ve met people and got to know them and become friends with them,” he said.
Mr Perry also runs a Facebook group for Ned Kelly enthusiasts called ‘Ned Kelly- the best bloody man’.
While there are many who remember and celebrate Ned Kelly and his gang, there are also those who condemn his actions.
In a letter to the editor (today page 8), David MacFarlane said due to the information now available on the Kelly Gang people should no longer glorify the actions of the gang and call them noble.
“Sympathiser mythmakers want us to believe that the gang's victims would have just been the hated police,” Mr MacFarlane said.
“In truth, the gang’s victims would also have been several journalists, some wives and the train crew, innocent people also on the train.
“The Kelly gang’s victims would also have been the forgotten grieving wives, children and loved ones of everyone killed, and to any animal lovers out there, spare a thought for the police horses on that train,” he said.
Mr MacFarlane said he disagreed with the gathering of Ned Kelly enthusiasts at the Glenrowan hotel.
He said the anniversary of the siege should instead be remembered for the actions of those who took down the Kelly Gang in 1880.
“Let's celebrate the Siege Weekend coming up with a few toasts of our own, to the destruction of the Kelly Gang, to the sacred memory of all their victims, to the triumph of good over evil, and to Thomas Curnow the extraordinarily brave young man who virtually single handed, brought Kelly's reign of terror to an ignominious end,” he said.
