Missing the Remains of Ned Kelly

Abstract

Ned Kelly has been the subject of innumerable articles, ballads, tales, and debates. Both his character and story have enraptured the imagination of colonial Australia, as well as Australia's post-colonial now. What the following article addresses is the kind of debates that have long-circulated around the figure of Ned Kelly, while also paying particular attention to the recent re-burial of his remains. It considers the complexities around the idea of remembering his life and laying to rest his physical traces, as well as its missing parts. Notably the essay addresses the question of his missing head and how it has come to reinvigorate speculation concerning his life and times.