At around 9.30 the following morning, I found myself in drizzling rain and icy wind heading for Beechworth’s Town Hall to pick up my tickets to some of the weekend events. I then walked eagerly to the police paddocks to see what the organising committee had come up with to set the scene for this years Ned Kelly Weekend. When I turned the corner of the old courthouse, I must say I was pleased and pleasantly surprised. There were tents set up all over the place, just like in the good ol goldmining days. A miner’s tent, Chinese laundry, Police camp with roaring fireplace, along with merchants all keen to flog off their wares. I was also impressed with the number of volunteers dressed in period costume mingling amongst the increasing number of patrons. At last the organising committee have finally gotten on the right track, not a bloody steam engine in site. The absence of SES trucks, Fire engines, Police cars, plastic orange barriers and metres of electric cable set a believable scene, not to mention the atmosphere.

As I strolled through the paddocks I was approached by three traps. One of them was a big bugger who looked very much like that scoundrel Constable Hall He was smoking a pipe with its bowl in the shape of a human skull. He came menacingly close and asked me if I was going to Paul O’Keefe’s presentation at the Nicholas Hotel at 12 o’clock. Not to be intimidated, I asked what business it was of the traps. He then told me that those who have not purchased a ticket will be locked up. I rummaged quickly through my envelope of tickets and produced the goods to his satisfaction. ‘Bloody O’Keefe, I thought, I knew he’d try on something like this’. The traps moved on, checking other patrons while I sought comfort from the chilly conditions with a cup of hot coffee.

At a quarter to twelve I made for the Nicholas Hotel, looking over my shoulder as I walked. I could see the three traps standing on the corner of Ford and Camp streets watching my every move. When I arrived at the Nicholas, I could see Adam Wynne-Jenkins, the President of the Weekend Organising Committee, propped up against the walls of the old establishment. He was dressed in white and seemed deep in thought. ‘Good morning Adam I says, nice morning’. I must admit, I was not kind to Adam in regard to the placing of the Kelly Gang Armour at last years event, and was unsure if I would be received with a greeting or simply a punch on the nose. To my relief, he was rather sociable and explained to me what had been organised for Mr O’Keefe’s talk about his G G Grandmother, Esther Hart. Esther of course is the sister of Steve Hart, one of the Kelly gang of outlaws. When he informed me that the talk will be held in the hotel’s cellar I was a little wary. I followed him down the darkened steps all the while thinking that I could possibly end up jammed in the bottom of a beer barrel and never to be seen again. Another thing that crossed my mind was…. What is O’Keefe going to think when he finds out he’s giving his talk in the pub’s cellar? When I walked into the room I knew immediately Paul would be pleased. With it lit with lanterns, pews stretching along a magnificent table setting, old brick walls set off with a suit of Kelly armour, the atmosphere was absolutely perfect for such an event.

As the guests arrived, we were kept entertained by these four singing buggers who rolled in off the street. Paul waited patiently as they harmonised away before starting his presentation….“The Girl Who Loved Ned Kelly”. This girl was non other than his GGGrandmother Esther Hart. He gave us much insight into the life of Ettie, as she was known, and evidence to show her relationship with Ned Kelly through old Police files, newspaper reports and a scrapbook belonging to Ettie that had been recently discovered by his mother in the basement of their home. This old scrapbook was filled with newspaper clippings of the Kelly Gang, cards, pressed flowers, jottings and beautiful poetry written by Esther. When reading the verse you could not help but relate to whom and what she was writing about. There is little doubt in my mind that it was non other than Edward Kelly. Paul kept us intrigued for a good hour , before lunch was served … Lamb shanks cooked to perfection.

Paul is passionate and proud of his heritage, and it clearly showed throughout his presentation. After lunch was finished he generously passed these priceless family artefacts around the table for all to see. These items would take pride of place in any museum, and how lucky we were to see them close at hand.

I returned once more to the Police Paddocks to see what else was going on. The weather had still not eased much, but by the way the paddocks were filling with patrons, it seemed nobody really cared one bit. I must say, I was rather surprised when I passed the Chinese laundry. There were ladies unmentionables fluttering in the breeze for all the world to see on Mrs Wong’s line. I stared for a moment in disbelief. It was only the previous evening at the Ironoutlaw dinner that the Lloyd girls mentioned something about having to do some washing in Beechworth the following morning. Would they be so bold, I thought? Still pondering the thought, I quickly moved on to the miner’s tent.

The miner’s tent was surrounded by young and old patrons all eager to have a turn at panning for gold. I could not help but smile and appreciate the way in which this bloke handled, with so much patience, the very young members of the audience. It was pleasing to see that so many children were getting involved in the very thing that built Beechworth, and put it well and truly on the map, whether they knew it or not. Isn’t it great to see children getting involved in this Kelly weekend event. There should be more of it. There was much to see and do, but unfortunately for me, I had pressing renovation matters in Wodonga. I cared not, for I knew I would be returning the next day for Noelene Allen’s talk on Ellen Kelly, and also to catch up with that lovable rogue, Harry Power at the Town Hall. On leaving the paddocks, I took a happy snap of whom I believed to be three well presented citizens of the era. I did not remember seeing that lady on the right. Was she in fact paying us a visit from the old May Day Hills Asylum?