VPRS 4965 Kelly Historical Collection - Part 1 Police Branch

This series contains police correspondence, reports and statements in relation to the search for the Kelly gang, directives, documents relating to the trial of Ned Kelly and proceedings against various members of the Kelly family and papers relating to other events which occurred after Ned Kelly's execution.Research undertaken on these records by PROV during the 2010s has concluded that the contents of this series consists of the "file" maintained by Victoria Police in Melbourne as papers were received and "put away". The "file" most likely existed in the the form of a number of tied bundles, the papers within each arranged in chronological order according to the date items were "put away" (that is, filed) and not according to the date in which the items were either written by their creators or received by Victoria Police.Accordingly, the file (i.e the bundles) was maintained by Victoria Police as part of the same record keeping system as the bundles that make up VPRS 937 Inward Registered Correspondence. The bundles would have been referred to as the "Kelly file" containing what were considered to be the significant documents relating to the matter. This is in keeping with a range of other single subject files completely unrelated to Kelly that can be found within units 510 - 515 of the P0 consignment of VPRS 937.Individual items that were filed could take the form of either a single letter, report, memo, telegram, etc, or of a file containing similar items received on aspects of the subject matter that had been bound together by ribbon. The reverse of many papers on the file will be annotated with registration details, comments and instructions reflecting the movement of the paper/file throughout Victoria Police.