Investigating five case studies in Australian history

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ISBN 0-9493804-0-7 © 2002 National Museum of Australia and Ryebuck Media Pty Ltd Written by Robert Lewis and Tim Gurry, Merrillee Chignell, Laura Griffiths, David Arnold Produced by National Museum of Australia Schools Program Section GPO Box 1901 Canberra ACT 2601 Phone (02) 6208 5119 Fax (02) 6208 5198 Email schools@nma.gov.au Website www.nma.gov.au Ryebuck Media Pty Ltd 31 Station Street Malvern Victoria 3144 Phone (03) 9500 2399 Fax (03) 9500 2388 Email ryebuck@ryebuck.com.au Website www.ryebuck.com.au Designed by Polar Design, Carlton, Victoria Printed by Impact Printing, Brunswick, Victoria All efforts have been made to find copyright ownership of materials used in this publication. Any contraventions are accidental and will be redressed. For any copyright matters please contact Ryebuck Media Pty Ltd. Teachers are welcome to duplicate any pages in this publication for educational purposes in their classrooms.
Case Study five Was Ned Kelly a hero or a villain? On 11 November 1880 a 25- or 26-year-old man, Edward Kelly, was hanged in Melbourne for the murder of a policeman at Stringybark Creek, in north-eastern Victoria. The headstone on the victim’s grave spoke of his murder by armed criminals. At the same time there were people singing bush ballads that praised Kelly as a hero. Which was he — hero, or murderer? And why has he become such a significant part of Australian national identity that he was presented to the world as one of Australia’s national icons at the 2000 Sydney Olympics opening ceremony? These are some of the ideas explored in this case study. To do so, students need to be clear about the facts of Kelly’s life, and in particular the act for which he was hanged — the killing of Constable Lonigan (and other police) at Stringybark Creek in 1878. Students investigate how different people can interpret one set of facts very differently to come up with contrasting ‘Ned as hero’ and ‘Ned as villain’ interpretations. They then put Kelly on trial for the event that set his fate — the killing of the three police at Stringybark Creek in 1878. Was it cold-blooded murder? Was it an act of justifiable self-defence? Like the 1880 court, they focus on the death of Constable Lonigan, the only one of the three for which Kelly was tried. Students become witnesses, and have to present evidence and be challenged about it. At the end, students are better able to confront one of the icons of Australian history, and decide for themselves where they want to place that person in their own sense of their national identity.
Page 1: Australian History Mysteries Invest
Page 5 and 6: Each group is allocated two pieces
Page 7 and 8: case study 5 activity one What is a
Page 9 and 10: case study 5 activity three Ned Kel
Page 11 and 12: case study 5 activity four Represen
Page 13 and 14: case study 5 activity four Represen
Page 15 and 16: case study 5 activity five Putting
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Investigating five case studies in Australian history

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