2 Ned’s innocence or guilt in this incident is difficult to establish. The McCormacks were recent arrivals in the area and Gould had fiercely contested their presence in his ‘patch’. 3 This incident led to the bare-knuckled bout between Wright and Ned, after his release from gaol two and a half years later. 4 Ned started his sentence in Beechworth Gaol, where he had spent six months after the Gould incident. In February 1873 he was transferred to Pentridge Gaol in Melbourne, then to the prison hulk Sacramento, and finally to the Battery, at Williamstown. The prisoners worked in chain gangs, in quarries or constructing roads. 5 Judge Redmond Barry, when sentencing Ned to death, reprimanded, ‘You have actually had the hardihood to confess to having stolen two hundred horses.’ Ned immediately replied, ‘Who proves this?’ This distinction between bragging about a crime and being caught committing it was for him entirely meaningful. 6 Ned’s sister Annie Gunn died with her new born daughter in 1872.
What do You think about The Jerilderie Letter (2012)?
