Ned Kelly historical collection

PROV holds more original records within our collection about the nineteenth century bushranger Edward (Ned) Kelly than any other archival institution in the world.

All of the records we hold were created or received by agencies of the Victorian Government that were involved in the search for Ned Kelly and his trial. For the most part, the records we hold document:

• the murder of members of Victoria Police at Stringybark Creek
• the  pursuit of the Kelly Gang until its “last stand” at Glenrowan
• the capture, treatment, prosecution and execution of Ned Kelly, and
• the work of the Kelly Reward Board and the Royal Commission into the Outbreak of the Kelly Gang and other activities that occurred after Kelly’s execution.

A large number of the records we hold about Kelly, but not all, are held within six series known as the Kelly Historical Collection. The remaining records will be found within various series created by the relevant agencies involved. 

2023 UPDATE: view the most recent Ned Kelly records added to our collection.

Note that the new records (part 6 of the collection, containing only a few documents) do not have a detailed explanatory page (you can read the series text for further information).

For an overview of the Kelly story including typical records we hold, or if you are a teacher or secondary school student, our Ned Kelly exhibition is a good place to start. It also contains digitised and transcribed versions of many of the important records about Kelly from the PROV collection.

If you wish to delve deeper into the story and conduct research, follow the links set out on this page.   

These records have all been digitised and can be viewed online.