On the 26 June 1880 Joe Byrne and Daniel Kelly shot dead their compatriot Aaron Sherritt in the Woolshed Valley. This incident is less well publicised than the dashing so called heroics at Glenrowan and the earlier comical robberies at Euroa and Jerilderie. Interested parties should acquaint themselves with the horror of the events which were set in motion by Ned Kelly to lure a police train up through Benalla and on to Glenrowan soon after, with the remainder of the gang lying in wait, ready to derail the train and ‘to fill the rats around with the fat carcases of the police’ (from the account of Thomas Kurnow). The murder of Aaron Sherritt was the bait for the gang to commit mass murder since no other trains would run on the line on a Sunday except for the police special.
Both Aaron Sherritt and his friend Joe Byrne had grown up in the Woolshed Valley. They had attended school together and served time in the Beechworth Prison. His double agent antics, whether accurately portrayed by researchers or otherwise, led to his falling foul of the gang. His wife described his behaviour as having ‘been in the employ of the police in assisting to capture the Kellys’. His murder was to be pivotal in Ned’s intended ultimate act of rebellion against the law.
At supper time Aaron opened the door to a knock only to find a shotgun in his face, with the figure of Joe Byrne silhouetted in the moonlight. Dan Kelly waited behind the chimney. Two shots were blasted at Aaron, ‘who did not live two minutes after being shot’ (account of Belle Sherritt). At Byrne’s declaration that he had gotten the man he wanted, he remained in the vicinity for some time, as he was concerned that there were policemen in the partitioned off section of the room, which there were. These men had been planning to watch Mrs. Byrne’s home in the dark with Aaron to entrap the Kelly Gang.
After some hours, the occupants of the hut were able to alert authorities to the murder. The delay in getting the news to Melbourne meant the siege was delayed and there was only so long that Ned could keep hostages at Glenrowan occupied. His failure to read Thomas Kurnow correctly, led to the pilot train being stopped and alerted and subsequently the defeat and capture of the gang and Ned.
A further victim in the brutal murder of Sherritt was a local farmer named Anton Wick who was apprehended on his way home by Joe and Dan. He was told at gunpoint to knock on the door and identify himself so that the door would be opened without suspicion. At the announcement of it is I, "Anton Wick. Sherritt, come and show me the road, I've lost my way’, the victim unknowingly tied another innocent into the whole sordid event. (Account of Belle Sherritt)
Both Sherritt and Wick lie in the Beechworth Cemetery. Wick has a black marble headstone while Sherritt lies unmarked so as not to encourage notoriety.
In forming an analysis of these events, it must be noted that the mastermind behind the killing of Aaron Sherritt was Ned Kelly, even though Joe Byrne pulled the trigger. Without the murder, there would have been no train and without the train there would have been no siege at Glenrowan.
No matter what the reader’s opinion of the justification of Ned’s actions, the narrative involving the murder of Aaron Sherritt must be told.
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