1. Joseph Byrne was a Victorian bushranger, outlaw and member of the Kelly gang, referred to as leader Ned Kelly's second in command.
27 Facts About Joe Byrne
1. 2.
Joe Byrne was born in country Victoria with an Irish Catholic background.
3.
Joe Byrne was named after his paternal grandfather, an Irish rebel who was transported as a convict to Australia.
4.
In 1880, Joe Byrne, believing Sherritt had turned police informer, murdered him as part of a plot to derail a police train and raid Benalla, but the gang was cornered by the police at a hotel in Glenrowan.
5.
Joe Byrne was known for his literary talents, writing out the Jerilderie Letter and other documents on behalf of Ned, and composing bush ballads about the gang.
6.
Joe Byrne had a reputation as a womaniser, and on screen has been portrayed by the likes of Orlando Bloom.
7.
Joe Byrne was born in 1856 in Woolshed, on the Reedy Creek flat near Beechworth, Victoria, to Irish Catholic parents Patrick Joe Byrne and Margaret.
8.
Joe Byrne was named after his paternal grandfather, Irish Whiteboy and convict Joseph Joe Byrne, who was transported to the penal colony of New South Wales in 1833 for "unlawful oaths".
9.
Joe Byrne was one of the "Irish Famine Girls" given free passage to Australia during the Great Famine.
10.
Joe Byrne was considered one of the better students there and developed a reputation as a "flash writer".
11.
Joe Byrne built a strong friendship with fellow student Aaron Sherritt.
12.
In 1869, Joe Byrne's father died from heart disease, and Joe Byrne, now the eldest male in the household, left school that year to assume the duties of his deceased father.
13.
Joe Byrne made his first appearance in court in 1871 on the charge of illegally using a horse, and had to pay a fine of 20 shillings to avoid going to jail.
14.
Joe Byrne met Ned in 1876 and the pair soon became firm friends.
15.
Joe Byrne was likely present at the Kelly homestead on 15 April 1878 when Constable Fitzpatrick claimed that Ned Kelly shot him and Ellen Kelly, Ned's mother, hit him over the head with a shovel.
16.
Joe Byrne was present at Stringybark Creek with the Kelly brothers and Steve Hart on 26 October 1878 when they surprised a patrol of four police officers on their trail, with three of them shot dead.
17.
The Kelly Gang started developing a strategy with Joe Byrne acting as Kelly's lieutenant, always being consulted about strategy.
18.
Joe Byrne drafted the Euroa letter in red ink sent by Ned Kelly to Donald Cameron, a local MLC.
19.
Joe Byrne was able to use this support to advantage by penning a number of bush ballads about the exploits of Kelly and his gang.
20.
Joe Byrne frequently visited his mother at her house in Beechworth and was seen carousing in bars in the town, despite having a price on his head.
21.
Kelly and Joe Byrne started planning their next raid at Jerilderie.
22.
Joe Byrne wrote letters to Sherritt, inviting him to join the gang, but grew increasingly wary of his former friend, and murdered him at his hut in the Woolshed Valley on 26 June 1880.
23.
Joe Byrne slumped on top of hostages crouching in fear on the floor, and bled out within minutes.
24.
The next day Joe Byrne's body was strung up "like a puppet" on the door of the lockup and photographed by the press.
25.
Joe Byrne's family did not claim the body, and the police refused to hand it over to sympathisers, fearing a funeral would become a rallying point for the simmering rebellion.
26.
Joe Byrne was buried on the same day as Aaron Sherritt.