Ellen Elizabeth (Quinn) King (abt. 1832 - 1923)

Born about 1832 in Ballymena, Co Antrim, Ireland

Ancestors

Wife of John Kelly — married 18 Nov 1850 (to about 1866) in St. Francis Church, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Wife of George Samuel King — married 19 Feb 1874 in Benalla, Victoria, Australia

Descendants

Died 27 Mar 1923 at about age 91 in Greta, Victoria, Australia

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A timeline of the Kelly Gang and Kelly Family

Biography

Ellen (Quinn) King was born in Ireland.

Ellen (Quinn) King migrated from Ireland to Australia.

This profile won Profile of the Week the Third week of January 2014.

Ellen Quinn, the daughter of James Quinn and Mary Anne McCluskey, was born 1832 in Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland, in 1841. The Quinn family travelled to Liverpool, Lancashire, England and there embarked on the England^[1]. The Quinn family sailed for Australia as Bounty Immigrants ^[2].

Ellen's father, James, having arrived in Melbourne with a wife and 10 children, started working as a porter, eventually saving enough money to buy milking cows and a team of bullocks and rent a small farm on Moonee Ponds Creek near Brunswick. While James worked as a carter, his wife Mary and the children milked the cows. Ellen worked for McNaughtons Saddlery in Elizabeth Street, Melbourne. In about 1845, Ellen's father rented a bigger property further from Melbourne at Broadmeadows, with Ellen's teenage brothers now taking over the carting with the bullocks and James working on the farm.

In 1849, Ellen's father, now with 13 children, rented nearly 700 acres of land at Wallan Wallan^[3] near Kemps Creek. Ellen Quinn was now a slim, attractive young woman who could do anything on a farm and she was an expert on a horse. One day, in 1850, a tall redheaded man appeared at the farm and, to Ellen, there was an instant attraction. The man was John "Red" Kelly. Ellen's father had met Red the year before in a pub at Merri Creek, where they discussed setting up an illicit still to make moonshine liquor. However, James - now obviously sober and conscious of the fact that John was an ex-convict - had second thoughts. Instead John stayed in the area working and started paying court to James's daughter. It is not likely Ellen's father approved of the match.

By May 1850, Ellen was pregnant with John's child. John and Ellen eloped and were married 18 November 1850 in St. Francis Church, Melbourne.

Ellen and John were given permission by James Quinn to build a small hut on the farm at Wallan Wallan and it was here that Ellen gave birth to their first child, Mary Jane Kelly on 25 February 1851. During early 1853, John Kelly went to the goldfields at Bendigo, leaving Ellen at her father's farm. He returned just after the birth of their second child Ann Kelly in November 1853, having made a modest amount of money - enough to buy 40 acres of land with some buildings on it at Beveridge^[4]. He later bought 1/2 an acre in the town and built a house for renting. Soon after, Ellen was pregnant again and, in December 1854, 13 months after the birth of Ann, she gave birth to Edward "Ned" Kelly.

The hopes of the Kellys' prosperity in the town of Beveridge failed and John mortgaged his farm to make ends meet. After failing to meet mortgage payments, John sold the farm early in 1857, receiving £225 10/. John also sold his house in town and half the land. He built a hut on the remaining 1/4 acre. Ellen gave birth to Margaret Kelly 15 June 1857 in this small hut. In 1858, another 1/2 acre was able to be purchased. In February 1859, fortune was looking up and 21 acres of farmland was purchased for £70 with 2 small blocks of land in town. A small cottage was built by John on the farmland and Ellen gave birth to James Kelly on 31 July 1859, Daniel Kelly on 1 June 1861 and Catherine Kelly on 12 July 1863 in this cottage. John, still drinking heavily again, sold his land - first the 2 blocks of land in town, and then, in January 1864, he received £80 from James Stewart for the 21-acre farm. The family then moved to Avenel^[5]

On arriving in Avenel, the Kellys soon settled in with John renting a 40 acre farm for £12 a year - money that could have bought a farm elsewhere 2 or 3 times the size. However, it's likely John knew Avenel was an upstanding area and, because of his prior convict record, he would be less likely to draw the attention of the police. Ellen and the school-age children were well regarded - with Ellen, being an expert horsewoman, often lending a hand to find "missing" livestock^[6]. A little more than a year after arriving in Avenel, John was arrested and charged with cattle stealing. On 29 May 1965 John appeared in Avenel Courthouse after being charged with stealing a calf from a Mr. Morgan. Although the charge of stealing was dismissed, he was convicted for "unlawful possession of a hide" and fined £25 or 6 months in prison. Unable or unwilling to pay the fine, John served less than 4 months of the 6 month prison term. Ellen gave birth to their 8th child, Grace Kelly on 10 August 1865. By now, John was suffering from Dropsy and, with his health further weakened by his term in prison, he died on 27 December 1866. A young Edward "Ned" Kelly became the head male of the family.

Ellen, now a widow with 7 children still living in Avenel, twice faced the Avenel Court whose Police Magistrate was no other than Arthur Ackehust^[7]. One court appearance was for assaulting her sister-in-law, Anne Kelly, and the other for damaging property and using abusing, threatening language against the person.^[8] It was also about this time that "Ned" was accused of stealing a horse. So Ellen decided to sell what goods and stock she had and leave Avenel. By April 1868, Ellen was living with her children at the Greta^[9] Pub^[10]. Her brother-in-law, James Kelly, was visiting and, in a drunken stupor, burnt down the building. Later, he was sentenced to death but his sentence was reprieved and commuted to 10 years of hard labour.

Ellen, just after this fire, was able to purchase 88 acres of land at 11 Mile Creek near Glenrowan^[11] under the Duffy Land Act^[12], and here, Ned Kelly - with the help of cousins - built a slab style house for his mother and siblings. In June 1869, Ellen became pregnant to William Frost. ^[13]. When Ellen became pregnant, William Frost promised to marry her. However, when the child was born, Frost promptly broke his promise and married another woman. The child was born 25 March 1870 and registered as Ellen Kelly, Ellen took William Frost to Benalla Court to force him to support his child and on 17 October 1871,^[14] Judge Butler ordered William to pay 5s a week plus pay 2, £20 sureties and £7 2s 6d costs.

Ellen rode her horse recklessly through Benalla, in victory, and was charged with furious riding. She appeared before Judge Butler on 24 October 1871 but the case was dismissed on a technicality. Perhaps this was the start of Ellen's own battle with the law. The child Ellen died 30 January 1872. On 18 November 1872, Ellen again faced Judge Butler this time being charged with receiving a stolen saddle,^[15] Judge Butler was scathing of the police and dismissed the case. However, in the evidence that was given, it was sworn that Ellen's son was seen in the vicinity of the horse with a saddle on it. It was probably "Dan Kelly".

On 29 October 1873, Ellen gave birth to another child. This child was registered as Ellen King. She was the child of George King, a 25-year-old Californian who was working on Ellen's property in exchange for lodgings. Ellen was to marry George on 19 February 1874 in Benalla and George was to become both a teacher and associate of Ned Kelly. ^[16]

Released from Pentridge^[17] on 2 February 1874, "Ned Kelly" returned to his family to find some changes. His mother had remarried, a new sister Ellen, Ned’s brother James was serving a five-year sentence for horse stealing and his sister Margaret had married a family friend William Skillion William Skilling. Most upsetting was the news that his older sister, Ann Gunn Ann (Kelly) Gunn^[18] had died shortly after giving birth to an illegitimate daughter - believed to have been fathered by a local policeman, Constable Flood, who was stationed at the Greta police station.

Ellen next gave birth to John King on 19 March 1875 and, by this time, her husband George and Ned were operating a successful stock-stealing operation with the help of Joe Byrne Joseph "Joe" Byrne, Aaron Sherritt Aaron Nesbitt Sherritt, Wild Wright Isaiah Wright and Brickey Williamson William Williamson. The police were aware of the operation, but it was not until 20 March 1878 when a warrant was issued for Daniel Kelly, that the police were able to put an end to the operation. In doing so, it caused drastic events for the Kellys and the police themselves. A young constable, Alexander Fitzpatrick,^[19] a drunk and known womaniser, started the events that put Ellen in HM Prison Pentridge with a baby.

On 15 April 1878, 2 days after Ellen gave birth to Alice King, Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick read the Police Gazette and decided to arrest Dan Kelly without waiting for a warrant. Under the influence of alcohol, and full of arrogance, he travelled to the Kelly property. When he arrived at the Kelly homestead, he found Ellen Kelly at home with her children, including Dan Kelly, who asked if he could finish his meal before being taken back to Greta. This was agreed and, while waiting, Fitzpatrick tried to have his way with a 15-year-old Kate Kelly. According to Fitzpatrick's police report - which makes no mention of his prior activity - Ned Kelly appeared in the doorway and fired a shot at him and Ellen hit him over the head with a fire shovel. Brickey Williamson and their brother-in-law, William Skillion, who were outside, came into the house armed. Ned fired a second shot and Fitzpatrick’s wrist was wounded,^[20]. Fitzpatrick then stated Ned was going to remove the bullet with a knife, but instead let him remove it himself^[21]. So there was no evidence that Ned shot him. Fitzpatrick then went on to say that Ellen dressed the wound, that he was offered a bribe to stay quiet and not say anything of what happened and that he was then released and rode to Benalla to report his attempted murder.

Ned and Dan Kelly left to go into hiding in bushland. No mention of George King, Ellen's husband, was ever made. Nor was he heard of again. The King children took to be known as Kelly after this series of events. The police came in force the next day and the search for Ned and Dan Kelly included food provisions being tipped out to seeing if they were hiding in sacks of flour and tins of eggs. Ellen was arrested, along with William Skillion and Brickey Williamson. All three were to face court on 12 October 1878, charged with aiding and abetting the attempted murder of Constable Fitzpatrick.^[22]

Serving her sentence with hard labour - the baby Alice King with her at HM Prison Pentridge, Coburg - Ellen's job was working in the laundry at the time Dan Kelly died in the fire at Glenrowan Inn and Ned Kelly was wounded and captured on 28 June 1880.

Later, she was informed that her son was to hang, and on 10 November 1880^[23]. Ellen was permitted to say her last farewells to Ned. Ellen is reputed to have told her son," Mind you die like a Kelly, son"and Ned Kelly was hung at HM Prison Pentridge at 10 am on 11 November 1880 while his mother was working in the laundry not far away.

Released from HM Prison Pentridge February 1881, Ellen returned to her 11 Mile Creek homestead to rumblings of anger and revenge in the community over the Kelly affair. At the request of a new constable of the district, Constable Robert Graham, Ellen made it publicly known she was prepared to live peacefully - thus quieting the unrest. Ellen's son, James, built a new house on a 640-acre selection near Kelly's Gap, where Ellen lived till the age of 92 with her surviving children and grandchildren. She outlived many of her children, Annie, Edward, Margaret, Dan, Kate, and infants Mary- Jane, Ellen Frost, and Annie's daughter Anna. Ellen Kelly died on 27 March 1923

DNA

The mtdna of Ellen has been identified through DNA testing.

A ‘mitochondrial’ DNA sample (from the maternal line), taken from Melbourne school teacher Leigh Oliver, the grandson of Ned’s sister Ellen has confirmed the female line of Edward Kelly. The haplogroup is J1c.^[24][25][26]

Sources

1. ↑ . The England departed from Liverpool on 4 April 1841 and arrived in Port Phillip, Australia, on 17 July 1841. A barque of 939 tons, (small by today's standards), she carried 344 immigrants with 240 of them being Protestant and 104 being Roman Catholic
2. ↑ Bounty immigrants were free immigrants whose passage was paid by the colonial government under the `bounty scheme'. Under this scheme, an incentive or reward (i.e. bounty) was paid to recruiting agents in Britain to find suitably skilled labour and tradespeople and ship them out to the new colony - which urgently needed working-class people to do manual labour in this new and untouched land. Bounties were paid to the ships' masters for the safe delivery of their passengers under the scheme. The typical bounty was 19 pound ($38) for an adult and 5 pound for a child. Bounty for the amount of 4,956 pound was claimed for the agent, AB Smith & Co. of Sydney, for the safe and healthy arrival of the immigrants on the England in July 1841.
3. ↑ Wallan Wallan
4. ↑ Beveridge
5. ↑ Avenel
6. ↑ It's probable that Ellen knew where some of the livestock was and what happened to them and this helped to draw attention away from John.
7. ↑ The man who killed Henry Powell at Eureka Stockade. Arthur Ackehurst
8. ↑ Trove Digital Archives Kilmore Free Press and Counties of Bourke and Dalhousie Advertiser; Thursday 6 June 1867.
9. ↑ Greta
10. ↑ - possibly a place that sold illicit liquor and was not licensed
11. ↑ Glenrowan known as Kelly Country
12. ↑ An Act of parliament that Enabled Women to Own Land in their Own Right. Sir Charles Gavan Duffy
13. ↑ William Frost was employed at Simson's Station, near the Kelly property, as a boundary rider and he later married Bridget Cotter. He committed suicide by swallowing strychnine on 13 November 1882
14. ↑ Ellen Kelly vs William Frost. Full Court Case Newspaper Article
15. ↑ Ellen Kelly in Court for Receiving 1872 Full Court Case Newspaper Article
16. ↑ Vic BDM KELLY, Ellen Marriage to KING, George yr1874 reg940/1874 (note not Quinn, may not have been this couple, certificate to be verified).
17. ↑ about April 1871-Isaiah ‘Wild’ Wright, Isaiah Wright who rode into Greta on a stolen horse to visit Ned’s brother-in-law, Alexander Gunn Alexander Gunn. Whilst at the Kelly home, the horse strayed, and ‘Wild’ borrowed one of Alexander’s horses, telling both him and Ned that if they found his own horse they could keep it as a straight swap. By this stage, the horse had been reported as missing by its owner in Mansfield. While riding the horse through Greta, Ned was summoned by Senior Constable Hall on the pretence of having to sign some papers. Instead, he told Ned that he was arresting him on charges of horse-stealing and a fight between the two erupted. The case came to trial in May and Ned’s original charge of horse-stealing was amended to receiving a stolen horse. He was imprisoned on this charge for three years
18. ↑ Ann Gunn died early in November 1872 - the week before Ellen's court appearance for receiving a stolen saddle
19. ↑ discharged from the police as dishonest and corrupt, Letter from F. C Standish Chief Commissioner of Police, Dated 10 May 1880
20. ↑ One of the pistols Ned was known to use - and the smallest - was the Colt 1849 Pocket Pistol in .31 caliber with a 3-inch barrel. It's not likely Fitzpatrick would have much of a wrist left at close range nor would there be a bullet to remove. Colt 1849 Pocket Pistol
21. ↑ . Dr Nicolson, who treated Fitzpatrick later in Benalla, refused to swear that the injury was a result of a bullet wound
22. ↑ Ellen was sentenced to 3 years jail, William Skillion and Brickey Williamson both for 6 years jail. Newspaper Account of the Court Case
23. ↑ The Judge who passed sentence "Judge Sir Redmond Barry was to collapse on 16 November 1880, and he died a week later
24. ↑ Australian Geographic, 2011, accessed 22 Apr 2020.
25. ↑ Kelly Clans DNA Update, 2013, accessed 22 Apr 2020.
26. ↑ The contributions of anthropology and mitochondrial DNA analysis to the identification of the human skeletal remains of the Australian outlaw Edward 'Ned' Kelly, 2014, accessed 22 Apr 2014.

See also

• Noelene Allen’s book, Ellen: a woman of spirit. Chapters 1-3 PDF

• NED KELLY (a short life) Author: Ian Jones, Pub: Hachette UK, 2010

• Kelly Country A Photographic Journey By Brendon Kelson, John McQuilton, University of Queensland Press, 2001

• Trove Trove Digital Archives

• smh.com.au Fairfax Digital

• Kelly Women

Acknowledgments

• Thank you to Eric Daly for creating Quinn-1218 on 30 Dec 13. Click the Changes tab for the details on contributions by Eric and others.