Obituaries Australia

The widow of Sergeant A. L. M. Steele, who captured Ned Kelly at Glenrowan in June, 1880, died at Wangaratta on Friday at the age of 91 years. Her second son, Lawrence St. George Steele, died at Wangaratta the previous day.

The death of Mrs. Steele recalls the night of June 27, 1880, when the Kelly gang was besieged in the Glenrowan Hotel with about 40 other people.

Ned Kelly had left the hotel in the dark and shot Superintendent Hare in the wrist. At 8 a.m. next day he was seen close behind the line of police surrounding the building. He was on foot and dressed in his suit of armour.

He fired on one of the constables, whereupon several of them fired at him at point blank range.

Kelly laughed at them and returned the fire, using only a revolver.

For half an hour he kept the police away from him, but Sergeant Steele, who had crept to within 10 yards, fired two shots into his legs, rushed upon him, and seized the revolver.

Kelly was stripped of his armour, and Sergeant Steele escorted him to the railway station to be taken to Melbourne.

After the people imprisoned by the bushrangers had escaped from the hotel it was fired by the police, and in the ashes were found the charred remains of Dan Kelly and Steve Hart, two other members of the gang of bushrangers.