the real joe byrne
The information on this page was taken from IronOutlaw.com, a great site about anything and everything Ned Kelly related, so check it out.

There are no published photographs of Joe Byrne alive except for one Ian Jones produced in his book The Friendship That Destroyed Ned Kelly. In all other publications only the shots of his body strung up on the door of the Benalla police lock-up, for the benefit of the press photographers, have ever been seen by the general public.

Thirty six hours before, Joe, age 23, was killed by a bullet to the groin at the Glenrowan Inn. He would be buried around the same time as his lifelong friend Aaron Sherritt whom he shot dead four days earlier.

He was a Woolshed lad, born around 1857 of Irish-Catholic extraction. His father died when Joe was around 12 years old, after a working life as a digger then a dairyman. Byrne went to school with Aaron Sherritt and they later served six months together for the unlawful possession of meat. Later Joe was fined for the illegal use of a horse.

Like the rest of the Kelly Gang, Byrne was a good shot and fine horseman. He practiced riding down steep gullies for fun. He was also an experienced alluvial miner and could speak fluent Cantonese having grown up amongst the Chinese diggers, which came in handy during his numerous visits to their opium dens.

Joe Byrne was part of the Kelly Gang because he happened to be around on the day of the Stringybark killings. On another day the gang could have been made up from an entirely different cast including Tom Lloyd, Ned's cousin, or Wild Wright, Ned's mischievous Mansfield mate, or even Aaron Sherritt.

Joe Byrne, however, was no ring-in. He became mates with Ned Kelly in 1876 and trusted him completely. He is remembered as Ned Kelly's lieutenant. The man Ned consulted on strategy. Ned saw Joe as a wise, patient sort of fellow unlike Dan or Steve which is why he tolerated Byrne's relationship with Sherritt, even when others were branding Aaron as a police informer.

At Stringybark Creek the evidence suggests that Joe shot dead Constable Scanlon after Ned had blown him off his horse. Scanlon's ring was worn by Joe Byrne at Glenrowan. Aaron Sherritt inadvertently implicated Joe as a Kelly Gang member when, on being asked to become an police informer said he would consider the deal if Byrne's life was spared.

Joe's high-heeled boots were his trademark, being referred to as larrikin heels during late nineteenth century Victoria. Byrne was seen as one of the most glamorous gang members with his handsome colonial boy charm and his strong opposition to police law and order.

Joe enjoyed reading a fine book and was a highly proficient writer. It was Joe who penned Ned’s words in the famous Jerilderie letter as well as the red inked Euroa letter, sent to Victorian MP Donald Cameron and Superintendent Sadlier. It is also understood Joe composed a number of ballads extolling the virtues of the Gang’s escapades. A verse from one of his songs goes:

My name is Ned Kelly,
I’m known adversely well.
My ranks are free,
my name is law,
Wherever I do dwell.
My friends are all united,
my mates are lying near.
We sleep beneath shady trees,
No danger do we fear.

He was reputed to have a number of girlfriends in the towns of the Kelly country and, at the height of the hunt for the gang, he used to slip into Beechworth to drink in the back bars of hotels there. All this bravado however, did not prevent him from murdering his one time best friend Aaron Sherritt whom Joe believe rightly or wrongly to be a police informer.

Accounts say that, a moment before the bullet struck Joe Byrne dead, he offered the toast “Here's to the bold Kelly Gang!”. Another report states that he said “Many more years in the bush for the Kelly Gang!”

He certainly believed he was betrayed by Aaron however history is yet to prove that Sherritt supplied any real information that aided the police hunt. It was more likely Sherritt was trying to line his pockets with some easy money whilst throwing the scent off the real trial. However, what is certain was that Sherritt made a fatal mistake in not letting Joe Byrne in on his plan.

John Sadlier writes of Joe's final scene in the Glenrowan pub, 'We were told that Byrne had been firing, and was in great spirits, boasting of what the gang was going to do. The work was hot, and he went to the counter for a drink. Finding that the weight of the armour prevented him throwing back his head to swallow the liquor he lifted the apron-shaped plate with one hand while with the other he lifted the glass to his mouth.

In this attitude a chance bullet struck him in the groin, and spinning around once he fell dead'. The police managed to drag the body of Byrne from the burning Inn moments before the entire building was engulfed in flames.

Ultimately Byrne shot dead Sherritt dead, culminating in the Gangs final confrontation with the police at Glenrowan, the scene of Joe’s untimely death. In only four days Joe Byrne had lost not only his own life, and taken the life of his best mate, but had also lost the recognition of his mother who refused to claim the body from the Benalla lockup. The same woman who frequently would welcome her son to her Woolshed home during the long nights of the police hunt, right under their very noses. Until recently, he was buried in the Benalla cemetery in an unmarked grave, however, today a grave stone marks his final resting spot.

Real images of Joe:
What is believed to be the only existed photograph of Joe Byrne alive.
One of the many photographs taken after Byrne's death.