At Glenrowan, on the morning of the 28th of June 1880, there emerged from the scrub a man dressed in armour, the likes of which police had never seen. It was Edward Kelly, better known as Ned, leader of the infamous Kelly gang. Gun blazing and yelling in defiance, Kelly marched towards the police. Recovering from their initial shock, the police returned fire. Unable to penetrate Kelly's suit of armour, they shot at his legs, wounding him badly, bringing him to the ground. Kelly was captured.
Each of the four Kelly gang members had fought the siege clad in suits of armour, made from the mouldboards of ploughs. But it was Ned Kelly, standing 5 foot 10 inches, who made the most impressive sight. A menacing figure, in what appeared to be a tin-can helmet, breast plate and lappet, back plate and two shoulder plates.
The back plate was made from two overlapping mouldboards riveted together down the centre. Slits were cut at the top of the plate on each side near the shoulder, to take the raw leather straps. These passed over the shoulders, and held the breast and back plates together.
The curved edge of the mouldboard has been used to create the lower edge of the right-hand plate. The back plate sits quite high up on the shoulders, aligning the small holes at the sides of the breast and back plates. The plates may have been held together at the side using sturdy leather hinges, secured with bolts.
The breast plate was made in a similar fashion to the back plate, with slits near each shoulder to hold the leather straps. The blacksmith's first attempt at making the slit on the right side resulted in the metal fracturing.
On the inside of the breast plate there are marks on the surface, made by the blacksmith's hammer as he fashioned the steel plates. These marks are so distinctive that they can be read like a craftsman's signature.
An indentation high up on the inside of the breast plate was made by a test shot, proof that the armour would withstand police bullets at close range. Informed that the Kelly gang was making armour from mouldboards, police sought advice from Hugh Lennon, a respected Melbourne plough manufacturer. Lennon said it could not be done, but he was later proven wrong when the stamp of a Lennon Number 2 Type plough was found on the inside of the breast plate.
At the bottom of the breast plate is a lappet made out of sheet metal joined by a bolt and a metal loop. It is probable that this piece was not part of the armour worn by Ned Kelly at the siege, but was fitted to the breast plate sometime prior to 1894.
Two shoulder plates protected Kelly's upper arms. The plate worn on the right arm is a simple half cylinder. It provided protection to the vulnerable side of Kelly's body, between the breast and back plates. The plate worn on the left arm is from the collection at Museum Victoria. It has a wider and flatter profile than the left plate, with the curve at the lower edge being created by the original shape of the mouldboard. Like the breast plate, this piece also bears the stamp of a Lennon Number 2 plough. Wire looped through each of the holes along the upper edge attached the plate to the straps over Kelly's shoulders.
Two holes on the lower edge of the face plate were originally used to fix the mouldboard to the plough. The square face plate is secured to the helmet by two bolts positioned near the jaw line.
A police bullet, from a Martini-Henry rifle, has made an indentation in the helmet over the forehead. The mouldboard used for the helmet has been cut, wrapped and secured at the forehead with a bolt. Along the upper and lower edges of the helmet, sets of holes have been punched in the metal to secure a protective lining to the inside.
The armour seen here is the most complete configuration since Kelly wore it at the siege of Glenrowan in 1880. It is a result of research undertaken by several experts and has been made possible through the kind cooperation of the Victoria Police and Museum Victoria.
