"I am Dan Kelly" declares aged bushman
By Simon Miller, Library Technician, State Library of Queensland | 10 August 2017
In August 1933 an old bushman entered the offices of the Truth, a Brisbane newspaper, and claimed to be none other than Dan Kelly, brother of Ned Kelly, and a key member of the Kelly Gang, who had supposedly died in the fire at the Glenrowan Hotel in 1880. The Truth published a series of reports over five weeks in which the man, then known as James Ryan, who claimed to be Dan Kelly told his story.
Dan Kelly, 1933. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland Neg: 196308
The reporters at the Truth certainly seem to have believed that this man was Dan Kelly. Two years later another man came forward to corroborate the story. John Allen claimed to have known the Kelly boys before they became bushrangers.
Headline from an article published in newspaper, Truth (Brisbane, Qld. : 1900 - 1954), 22 December, 1935, p. 20
John Allen's grandson also knew the man claiming to be Dan Kelly and has written a book Burnt to a cinder, was I? The escape and life of outlaw Dan Kelly, member of the notorious Ned Kelly Gang published in 2002 and a revised edition with the title Game as Ned Kelly? His brother Dan was! published in 2003.
Long serving Ipswich Councillor Paul Tully has taken considerable interest in James Ryan's claim to be Dan Kelly. According to Councillor Tully's History Queensland blog, Ryan appeared in Sideshow Ally at the EKKA in 1934 where he told his story and answered questions. None could conclusively disprove his claim to be Dan Kelly.
Another busy day in sideshow alley, Brisbane Exhibition Grounds, 1933, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland Negative Number: 203740
Ryan lived for a time under the old Toombul railway bridge but eventually came to live in a hut at Fairney View near Fernvale.
In 1941 he appeared in court charged with having indecently dealt with a girl under the age of 12. The Courier-Mail reported - "James Ryan, also known as Dan Kelly, an 86 year old pensioner, with a flowing beard, was accompanied by his dog when he appeared in the Police Court, before Mr. Johnstone Smith, J.P.". Ryan was found not guilty of the charge.
Dan Kelly and his dog at Toombul, ca. 1930s, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Negative number: 196305
James Ryan was run over and killed by a coal train at Ipswich on 29 July 1948 while making his way home after a short stay at Brisbane General hospital where he was treated for dermatitis. Apparently the old burn scars on his back, which he claimed he received at the Glenrowan Hotel, gave him trouble from time to time.
A witness testified at the inquest that Ryan had cataracts in both eyes and his night vision was poor which may have led to him straying onto the tracks. The Truth maintained that the inquest had done nothing to solve the mystery of Ryan's true identity. "The furthest police were able to go was lo make the negative statement to the court that the old chap had never produced anything to substantiate his claim that he was Dan Kelly", reported the Truth. Ryan was buried in a paupers grave in Ipswich General Cemetery. On 11 November 1998 a memorial was erected on the site. There have been calls for the body to be exhumed so that DNA tests could be carried out but this has not been done and the mystery remains.
Simon Miller - Library Technician, State Library of Queensland
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