Ned Kelly story 'one of the great Australian tragedies', says police historian

Ralph Stavely had "vowed and declared" he'd never have anything to do with the Ned Kelly narrative.

There's a complexity to it many people struggle - or, indeed, are unwilling - to grasp, he says.

"People tend to like a story to be nice and simple but (this one) ... it's not black and white," the police historian reflects.

"It's not neat and clean and it's not a good guy versus bad guy scenario."

Sure, Mr Stavely concedes, the many myths and sensationalist stereotypes surrounding the infamous bushranger certainly make for a good story.

It's just not the real story.

And it's for this reason the retired North East police officer agreed to lend his expertise to the team developing the new Kelly Trials exhibition at the historic Beechworth Courthouse.

Mr Stavely, who works with the Victorian Police Museum, has extensive experience researching the state's police history and added a wealth of knowledge and context to the project.

For two years he worked closely with Kelly Gang descendant Noeleen Lloyd to help develop and cross-check exhibition content.

Mr Stavely says they had "unique insights to offer"- and the result of their collaboration is one he's particularly proud of.

Like Ms Lloyd, he believes no one person or "side" owns the stories presented in the new exhibition.

"Visitors are able to make up their own mind about the events that occurred during the area's complex past," he says.

"And there's no doubt those who come to the exhibition will find it a stimulating experience."

Ms Lloyd has previously reflected that "people will finally get to see the (Kelly) trials in a very well-rounded and balanced way".

"It doesn't just focus on Ned ... there's a broader brush," she explains.

"And that includes the story of policing and what it was like to live in a frontier town.

"What we really wanted to do was shift the narrative away from emotional and provocative language to respectful truth-telling ..."

Mr Stavely describes the Ned Kelly story as one of "the great Australian tragedies".

"This is not a story about heroics," he states.

"People aren't cardboard cut-outs and it was a different life in the 1870s - as alien to us as going to another galaxy," he explains.

Instead, he describes the story of a young, raw bush lad "who came from a family on the wrong side of the tracks".

Of an ill-equipped police force and fledgling legal system "where the rules were still being written".

A story where migrants, women and the indigenous population had very little protection and even less power.

It's a story set against the backdrop of a "cash-strapped colony" and ... a gold rush!

The population increased four-fold and there was a massive influx of people - without the infrastructure of a civilised society to support it.

The rest, as they say is history.

Murder, mayhem, plotting, sex, greed, corruption, abuses of power and the tyranny of distance in rugged Aussie bushland.

It's all there.

But Mr Stavely's focus, though, has been on ensuring the police angle in this story is accurate - and fair.

"There's been a lot of talk about police in relation to the Kelly Gang but no one has really drilled down into what it was actually like being an officer at the time," he says.

"And there there were the laws of the time - it's a window into what people running the show thought was important, remembering that the 1870s was a time of political turmoil."

It's also important to remember that "policing was a relatively new invention" at that time, Mr Stavely says.

"Police pay was poor but the lure of gold was great.

"Getting the right type of person into the police force was difficult when they were rated at the level of an agricultural labourer."

Officers at the "top of the tree" came from the upper classes and in the nation's growing cities, policing was modelled on the London Metropolitan Police Force, according to Mr Stavely.

Out in the bush it was more like "the Irish model" and they relied on mounted troopers to cover the vast distances.

Some policemen were outstanding individuals who bonded with the community and did great work while others were "rough and ready" with equally rough tactics, Mr Stavely says.

"And that's part of the complexity of the Kelly story," he adds.

Life was tough, wages were poor and times were tempestuous.

There was no widow's pension for the likes of Ellen Kelly; 12-year-old Ned (as the eldest of eight) needed to support his family and the role models around him were "people on the edges of society, law breakers or their associates".

There were constant run-ins between the Kelly family and the local constabulary.

Ned was just 16 years of age when he was first sent to Pentridge Prison from Beechworth Gaol, accused of stealing a horse (later convicted of receiving one).

"It's hard to imagine that now for a lad of his age," Mr Stavely muses.

Still, there were also events the outlaw was involved in that "cast very large shadows", he says.

"I think at times Ned was so big on fighting for his right he never had a thought for tomorrow."

Police called in to the rugged North East terrain to hunt for the bushrangers didn't have the like of radios, they often slept rough and spent all day in the saddle without a hot meal, scared they would be ambushed by the Kelly Gang, according to Mr Stavely.

He adds that those types of conditions in general had a "huge and terrible effect" on the health of too many police at the time.

"It's impossible to say how many had their health ruined and died prematurely," he states.

The infamous Stringybark Creek Massacre (where three of four police officers were killed by the gang) was widely condemned and heavily reported across Australia and even internationally.

It put huge pressure on the government at the time to act.

And it would lead to "one of the more disgusting pieces of legislation" ever introduced to the state of Victoria, Mr Stavely says.

The Felons Apprehension Act essentially criminalised support for the gang and made it legal for civilians to shoot gang members on sight.

"That law tells us a lot about the solutions seen to be appropriate at the time," Mr Stavely offers.

".... that the end justifies the means."

Mr Stavely says one of the most important aspects to the courthouse project is "presenting the past to the public" - in a way that deepens understanding of our history as a nation.

In June 1880, Ned was captured by police in the famous shootout at Glenrowan.

He would face his committal hearing at Beechworth Courthouse before being transported to Melbourne for trial.

Ned was hanged on November 11, 1880 at the age of 25.

His last reported words were, "Such is life".

"But life doesn't have to be like that at all," Mr Stavely insists.

"This is a story for the ages.

"Knowing our history is the key to understanding (that) anything built on poor foundations is doomed to fail."

And in knowing the truth of our history, perhaps we ourselves are not doomed to repeat it.