Red Kelly
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John Kelly (1820 - 1866)

John (Red) Kelly
Born in Killenaule Parish, Moyglass, Co Tipperary, Irelandmap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 18 Nov 1850 (to about 1866) in St. Francis Church, Melbourne, Victoria, Australiamap
Descendants descendants
Died at age 46 in Avenel, Victoria, Australiamap
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Profile last modified | Created 30 Dec 2013
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John "Red" Kelly

Contents

Biography

Notables Project
Red Kelly is Notable.
John Kelly was baptised on 20 February 1820, in Moyglass Church in the county of Tipperary, Ireland. His parents, Thomas Kelly and Mary Cody, lived near the town of Clonbrogan, which is about one mile west from Moyglass.[1]
Kelly-4913-5.jpg
Plaque in Fethard near Moyglass, Co Tipperary, Ireland
By 1840, John Kelly was working as a ranger on Lord Ormonde's Killarney estate and, on 4 December 1840, he stole two pigs "value about six pounds" from a James Cooney of Ballysheehan. John with an accomplice was also involved in the stealing of seven cows belonging to a neighbouring farmer, a Mr. Ryall from Moyglass, who John informed on under police methods of interrogation.
On 1 January 1841, John Kelly was found guilty at Cashel Court and sentenced to 7 years transportation for pig stealing. John Kelly was [1] kept in prison until 31 July 1841 and then embarked on the convict ship Prince Regent in the port of Dublin. On 7 August, the Prince Regent sailed from Dublin with 181 convicts on board.
The Prince Regent[2] arrived in Van Diemans Land on 2 January 1842 and this is full transcript of John "Red" Kelly's [2] record of conduct while a convict:
Convict Conduct Transcript
Transported For: pig stealing
Gaol Report: well conducted, single, stated his offence stealing a pig
Surgeon Report: no offences, have employed, genial conduct, orderly
Trade: laborer
Height: 5.8 1/2
Age: 22
Complexion: fresh
Head: large
Hair: reddish
Whiskers: reddish
Visage: long
Forehead: medium height
Eyebrows: brown
Eyes: blue
Nose: large
Mouth: medium
Chin: medium
Native Place: Co Tipperary
Tried: Tipperary, 1 Jan 1841 7 years
Embarked: 31 Jul 1841
Arrived: 2 Jan 1842
Roman Catholic
Period of Probation: 1 year
Station Gang: Brown River
Conduct: 4 Feb 1842: absent from the station and being in a potato field belonging to Mr O’Connor- two months labor in chains.
Remarks: 3/42 quite good. do 4/42. do 5/42. do 6/42. 7/42 orderly. 8/42 quite good. 9/44 worker.
Ticket of Leave: 11 Jul 1845
2 Aug 1847: drunk and disorderly- fined 5/
Certificate of Freedom: 11 Jan 1848
Marriage
Not long after receiving his Certificate of Freedom, John Kelly crossed Bass Strait to Victoria. It was at Merri Creek in 1849, (- now known as "Pentridge") where he was post-splitting, he met James Quinn the father of Ellen Quinn. Despite John being 30 and Ellen only 18, they eloped in 1850 and were married 18 November 1850 by Fr. Gerald Ward [3] in Victoria's first Catholic Church, "St. Francis Church" located on the corner of Lonsdale and Elizabeth Streets, Melbourne, Vic.
Kelly-4913-2.jpg
St. Francis Catholic Church in 1861
  • Merri Creek = BROADFORD, Victoria, AU
John and Ellen Kelly first lived with Ellen's parents and, in 1854, after working in a variety of jobs including gold prospecting, John bought 40 acres of land with some buildings on it at Beveridge[3]. Later he bought 1/2 an acre in the town and built a house for renting.
Kelly-4913-3.jpg
House on the Farm at Beveridge
It was in this house on the farm that Edward "Ned" Kelly was born. Despite working hard, dairying and horse dealing, the farm failed. He also had a penchant for the bottle. John sold his farm for £225 10/ and half his block and house in town early in 1857 and moved to the remaining 1/4 acre and built a hut. It was here that Margaret Kelly was born. In 1858, John was able to buy another 1/2 acre and, in February 1859, he was able to purchase 21 acres and 2 small town blocks for £70. John built a cottage on the farmland and 3 children were born here, James Kelly 1859, Daniel Kelly 1861, and Catherine Kelly in 1863. In January 1864, John sold his 2 blocks of land in town, then sold his 21-acre farm for £80 to a James Stewart. The family then moved to Avenel near Nagambie where he rented 40 acres. John, still having trouble making ends meet, drinking heavily and having 6 living children and a wife to support, soon reverted to his former ways of livestock duffing, and - being a former convict - came to the attention of the police. On 29 May 1865, John appeared in Avenel Courthouse after being charged with stealing a calf from a Mr. Morgan. The charge of cattle stealing was dismissed, but a charge of "unlawful possession of a hide" was upheld. He was fined £25 or 6 months in prison, and - being unable to pay the fine - elected to serve the 6 months in prison. After serving 4 months of the term, he personally registered the birth of his 8th child "Grace Kelly" in Campions store in Avenel.
Death of John "Red" Kelly
His health was seriously deteriorating from heavy drinking and, after his 4 months in prison, John succumbed to severe Edema Dropsy Dropsy and died on 27 December 1866 [4]. His son, Edward "Ned" Kelly signed the death certificate at age 12. The death certificate records John's parents as Thomas and Mary Kelly, records his age as 45, and gives his occupation as 'dairyman'.

Kelly-4913-1.png

DNA

  • As at 10 September 2019, no DNA testers currently shown on this page have any triangulated segments that can confirm their descent back to this ancestor. If you are a descendant and have had your DNA tested, we encourage you to add your lineage to Wikitree!
  • Any descendants who tested at AncestryDNA are encouraged to upload their results to GEDmatch so that they can be compared to other testers.
Please direct any questions about the DNA analysis or any DNA confirmation data to Veronica Williams 21:37, 10 September 2019 (UTC)

Sources

Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office
Fethard at your Fingertips Has the Backing of Esteemed Australian History Professor's
Vic BDM -QUINN Ellen - Marriage to KELLY, John yr 1850 reg 985/1850 ironoutlaw PDF
familysearch.com Ireland Prison Register
Melbourne Daily Photo. "St. Francis Church"
Australian dictionary of Biography Ellen Kelly
NED KELLY (a short life) Author: Ian Jones, Pub: Hachette UK, 2010
Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVL7-RCQH : 13 December 2015), John Kelly, 1866; Burial, Avenel, , Victoria, Australia, Avenel Cemetery; citing record ID 89678566, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

Footnotes

  1. Baptism: "Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1655-1915"
    National Library of Ireland; Dublin, Ireland; Irish Catholic Parish Registers; Microfilm Number: Microfilm 02494 / 02
    Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 61039 #4798207 (accessed 18 February 2024)
    John Kelly baptism on 20 Feb 1820 (born 1820), child of Thomas Kelly & Mary Cody, in Killenaule, Tipperary, Ireland.
  2. "PRINCE REGENT II". [2nd voyage] built 1811 at Rochester. Wood ship of 395 tons. She carried 181 male convicts to Hobart and had three deaths en-route. She departed Dublin on 7 August 1841 and arrived at Hobart on 2 January 1842. Master: Captain John T. Barclay. Surgeon: Phillip Jones.
  3. Beveridge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beveridge,_Victoria

Benalla Historical Society Inc. Kelly Family Tree.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Eric Daly for creating Kelly-4913, 2013.





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Rejected matches › John Kelly (1820-)