[Mishmash] Ned Kelly's remains likely to have been dumped (http://theaustralian.news.com.au report)

[David Brown]

Such is life

 

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Subject: [Mishmash] Ned Kelly's remains likely to have been dumped
(http://theaustralian.news.com.au report)

 


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Ned Kelly's remains likely to have been dumped
Michael Davis
21 May 2007

NED Kelly's remains may have been uncaringly dumped in a quarry near
Pentridge Prison north of Melbourne more than 40 years ago.

Recent sensitive archaeological investigations conducted by Heritage
Victoria at the old jail site where the remains of Australia's famous
bushranger were thought to have been buried found no evidence of human
remains.

But Heritage Victoria archaeologist Jeremy Smith and his team discovered
signs of a disturbance of the soil around 1960, probably for major drainage
works at the jail. 

“What is now known is the area was disturbed and we think it's more than
likely Ned Kelly's remains were discarded in a nearby quarry,” Mr Smith said
yesterday 

“We think there would have been about 32 bodies in a mass grave and probably
all of them have been lost.” They included Kelly, Victoria's most famous
bushranger, who was hanged in 1880, and the state's worst 19th Century
serial killer, Frederick Deeming, 

Mr Smith said Kelly's remains would have been among those of prisoners
transferred from the Old Melbourne Gaol to Pentridge in the 1920-30's. 

“Although his skull was souvenired, his bones would have just been put in a
sack in a disordered and deteriorated condition,” Mr Smith said. 

At the time of the reloca tion, prison burial sites were not included in
official cemetery records and no official plans of the Pentridge burial
sites exist. 

However an old plan Department of Justice file that people had been largely
unaware of led archaeologists to unearth a couple of burial sites within the
jail walls which they have been careful not to disturb.

But there was no evidence of human remains at a third site just metres from
the jail's infamous D-Division cell block. 

“What we're finding there is extensive mid-20th century disturbance,” Mr
Smith said. This has now been supported by historical and anecdotal
evidence. 

The development of the former prison site has been carefully managed by
Heritage Victoria since it was sold in 1999. Heritage Victoria permits
issued for the development required extensive archaeological investigations
and monitoring to ensure any human remains were identified.

Heritage Victoria executive director, Ray Tonkin, said it “was important to
note that no human remains have been disturbed or moved as part of the
development.” 

About 40 executed inmates were buried at the former prison site in Coburg,
including Ronald Ryan - the last person executed in Australia - and nine
other prisoners executed at Pentridge between 1932-1967. 

Recent investigations confirmed the exact location of Ryan's coffin within a
designated burial area at the jail where it will remain. The area has been
set aside for mixed-use redevelopment.

A garden will be created to mark the designated burial areas at the old
jail, including information about the site's history. 

“We do not intend to glorify any of the prisoners buried at Pentridge but we
are committed to ensuring their basic rights to human dignity are upheld,”
Mr Tonkin said. He said Heritage Victoria would continue to work with the
developers, Pentridge Village Pty Ltd, to ensure all burials were dealt with
respectfully. 

The old bluestone prison is on the Victorian Heritage Register and as such
any changes to the site require a permit from Heritage Victoria. 



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