Obituaries Australia

Frederick Fanning, who claimed to be one of the troopers who captured Ned Kelly, at Glenrowan, in 1880, died in the Parramatta District Hospital, aged 71.

Fanning, who had been an inmate of the old men's home at Parramatta, since 1911, often retold the story of the capture of Ned Kelly. When a special train early in the morning was stopped a mile from Glenrowan, because the school teacher, Curnow, warned the driver of the pilot engine its permanent way had been pulled up, he said the troopers were told the Kelly gang had taken charge of the hotel. He added that, as the troopers were driven back by the first volley from the hotel, Ned Kelly called out, 'Fire away, you beggars, you cannot hurt me.' Fanning said Kelly, in his armour, made a rear attack on the police, who did not fire until Kelly fired at a constable. Kelly laughed when the police bullets failed to take effect, but when Sergeant Steele called 'Fire low boys,' he fell wounded in the legs.