General News
10 December, 2024
Did Ned Kelly visit Maryborough?
Have you heard the urban legend about Ned Kelly coming to Maryborough?
The local folktale surrounding Australia’s most famous bushranger has fascinated local history enthusiasts John Tully and Michelle Ross, who have made a new video detailing the information and theories surrounding the story.
The pair have joined forces to create the Victorian History Adventures YouTube channel, covering the lesser-known and unsolved historical events across the state.
According to Ms Ross, who also manages the Goldfields Guide website and YouTube channel, the new channel aims to bring mostly untold stories to a wider audience.
“John always had so many cool ideas for videos which weren’t all gold related, so we thought we should team up and share some of those stories,” she said.
“We are trying to tell stories that have a wide appeal — history with a twist is the main thing we are going for.
“History is important to share and get people interested in and being able to share it through video is really fun.
“You can really enhance what you are saying by putting something visually on the screen and put double or triple the information into it compared to if you’re writing a blog.”
Since the channel was created on January 31, 2024, the pair has created several videos exploring the story of the Redesdale Iron Bridge, war history in central Victoria and the range of artefacts located at the Dunolly Museum.
Their latest video tackles the ancient story that Ned Kelly and his gang came to Maryborough where Ned met up with his cousin.
A third party told the tale to The Addy (then known as the Maryborough and Dunolly Advertiser) who published the story on December 10, 1880 without further verifying the story.
“It’s based on the story of one woman saying that Ned Kelly arrived and visited Maryborough — the video sees if it is true or not,” Mr Tully said.
“It’s a locally known story, there was a bar in The Albion Hotel called Ned’s Bar based on the local story.
“We look at all of the evidence and see if we can come up with an answer.”
So what is the story behind the nearly 125 year legend surrounding the infamous outlaw?
“You will have to watch the video to find out,” Mr Tully said.
You can watch the video now by searching Victorian History Adventures on your web browser or YouTube.