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The hostage who made sure Ned Kelly survived his last stand
"If you shoot him, I'll shoot you": The hostage who made sure Ned Kelly survived his last stand. Constable Hugh Bracken, who insisted the infamous bushranger be captured alive, has been shunned by history. Now there's a push to honour his actions.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries on Jun 29, 2024 at 9:43 PM
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poor ned, you're better off dead...
posted by tamarack at 9:56 PM
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The song that tamarack is referencing.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 10:06 PM
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Reading the post summary, I guessed that Ned Kelly must have killed police officers, because here in the 21st century people who shoot cops aren't arrested: they're summarily executed in the street.
and signed up for the third time after the Kelly Gang murdered three police officers at Stringybark Creek on October 26, 1878.
Plus ca change.
According to the Greta Cemetery Trust's historical account, Bracken was shunned by the police force after the siege for preventing his superior officer from killing Kelly.
And this is why we say ACAB: because if you're police who do the right thing, you don't stay police very long.
posted by AlSweigart at 1:58 AM
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A memorial to Constable Bracken does not qualify for funding from the Victoria Police Historical Graves Committee because he is not on the honour roll.
The Blue Ribbon Foundation only provides funding to honour the memories of those who died in the line of duty.
I mean, fine, but that does rule out people who acted with honour and were drummed out of the service for it....
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:42 AM
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I mean, fine, but that does rule out people who acted with honour and were drummed out of the service for it....
Eh, selectively enforcing rules is the hallmark of policing. They should honor Constable Bracken: rule him back in.
posted by AlSweigart at 5:37 AM
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All I know about the Kelly gang I learned from Yahoo Serious, which is to say probably very little.
posted by funkaspuck at 6:11 AM
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All I know about the Kelly gang I learned from Yahoo Serious , which is to say probably very little.
Same here, but in my case it was Terry Pratchett.
posted by notoriety public at 7:04 AM
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Mick Jagger in mine.
posted by y2karl at 9:09 AM
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All I know about the Kelly gang I learned from Yahoo Serious , which is to say probably very little.
I learned about him in high school, of course, and currently teach students about him via his Jerilderie Letter. But the best fiction text about him is no doubt the Booker prize winning True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey which carries on in Ned's original voice.
I lost my own father at 12 yr. of age and know what it is to be raised on lies and silences - my dear daughter you are presently too young to understand a word I write but this history is for you and will contain no single lie may I burn in Hell if I speak false.
God willing I shall live to see you read these words, to witness your astonishment and see your dark eyes widen and your jaw drop when you finally comprehend the injustice we poor Irish suffered in this present age. How queer and foreign it must seem to you and all the coarse words and cruelty which I now relate are far away in ancient time.
posted by Thella at 2:37 PM
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