“As the cab containing the prisoner and his guards was being driven past the Empire Hotel in High-street, the former lifted his hat and waved it over his head to a number of persons standing on the balcony at the time, among whom were Mr Zincke, M.L.A., and also Mrs Aaron Sherritt and her mother, but whether he recognised any one person among the group was difficult to determine.”
Ovens and Murray Advertiser Tuesday 3rd August 1880, page 3 ‘Arrival of Ned Kelly in Beechworth’
Ned Kelly made some interesting remarks regarding the murder of Aaron Sherritt. Whilst on the train which was returning him to Beechworth for his trial, he expressed the view that Joe Byrne did not kill Aaron Sherritt. He described Sherritt as a ‘crawler and a traitor’ and said that he ‘would not scruple to have killed him if given the opportunity’. These remarks were stated in the presence of a number of police who escorted him to Beechworth and the entire of their conversation as recalled by those present was made public.
When Kelly arrived at Beechworth railway station approximately one hundred persons awaited the train out of curiosity to see him. As the Ovens and Murray Advertiser states, the crowd ‘pressed forward’ when Ned Kelly’s van pulled into the station, so great was the desire to look upon his visage. Upon arrival Kelly was taken to a waiting cab but not before those present got a good look at him. His expression was initially ‘one of bravado and disgust’ when he saw the onlookers. He attempted to exhibit his hatred of the police by kicking a police horse but missed when he was drawn back by his captors. Those present thought he looked ‘worn out and prematurely aged’. The notion that his bush life had ‘materially told upon his constitution’ was a general consensus. It must be stated here that he had just recovered from the wounds received at Glenrowan.
The cab then drove past the Empire Hotel on the corner of Camp and High Streets whereby it passed Ellen Sherritt, her mother Mrs. Barry and Mr Zincke, the solicitor. Kelly ‘lifted his hat’ from his head and waved it to those on the balcony. It appeared as though he was unaware that one the balcony was one of the saddest victims of the whole business; that of the young pregnant wife of Aaron Sherritt, who later faced the ordeal of a still birth. She filed for government compensation for the loss of her husband and it is believed that although some was received she was generally destitute until a later new marriage.
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