With her husband and mother imprisoned, two brothers on the run another in prison in Queensland, Maggie Scillion found herself effectively the head of the Kelly clan when barely 20 years old. She took on the duty protecting her sister Kate from sexual harassment by police as well as ensuring her brothers were provided with provisions.

She rode to the final showdown at Glenrowan dressed in her finest attire, but refused to ask her brother Dan and his mate Steve Hart to surrender.

Nobody knows how Dan and Steve died, potentially suicide by gunshot or poison, but the Kellies had enough support to secure their bodies. Anyone who wanted to conduct an autopsy had to go through Maggie Scillion and a shot gun. They sensibly backed down. Jim Kelly was back from Queensland, Joe and Steve had brothers. There was a real fear there would be another outbreak, lead by a woman!

I have no doubt that what the Kelly Gang intended was a rebellion against colonialism and Maggie was buying arms to support the rebellion while also seeking legal and political support for her mother and brother! A true heroine with a fatal flaw. While campaigning for the release of her mother, brother and husband she fell in love with a fellow campaign Tom Lloyd who I believe was also her cousin!

What I do know is that Red Kelly was a ticket of leave convict, convicted for something like stealing a pig. He’d served his sentence and was doing fine until he married Ellen Quinn, whose family were a settler family. I’ve nowt to say against Ellen herself, much less against her baby daughter of the same name who saw the inside of a prison before she was a year old, but it was supposedly honest settlers who provoked the rebellion. I’ve no doubt that’s what it was.