A Poster Advertising A Reward Offered for the Caputre of...

This source is a wanted poster produced on the orders of the Governor of New South Wales, George Robinson as a method of advertising the reward offered for the capture of Ned Kelly, Dan Kelly, Joseph Byrne and Stephen Hart, collectively known as the Kelly Gang. The poster was printed in 1879, signed by the Colonial Secretary of New South Wales, Henry Parkes and the Attorney-General of Victoria, Bryan O’Loghlen. The poster was likely created through the cooperation of the Colonial Governments of Victoria and New South Wales at the time in order to show a united front against the outlaws. The document itself was probably printed onto large pieces of paper and displayed around the major cities like Sydney and Newcastle as well as the smaller,†¦show more content†¦Through increasing the reward to such a significant amount and flooding the public eye with images of the gang, the Colonial Governments could attempt to decrease the support base which the gang could utilise to hide from the law by turning the Robin Hood status of the gang into one of murderous outlaws. Through understanding why the poster was created and published, there are two separate groups of people which the poster can be seen as being aimed at reaching. The first group of people were the poorer Irish population of the two colonies, which provided the key part of the support network which sheltered and aided the Kelly Gang during their time on the run, commonly known as the Bush Telegraph. This demographic was targeted in an attempt to remove this support network and was probably seen by these people with mixed reactions. The support network over the gangs two year crime spree remained strong, however, towards the end of their time on the run, they found themselves increasingly isolated as police pressure and the promise of reward swayed several key supporters. A prime example of the offer of money and reward turning key Kelly Gang supporters against them is the betrayal of Aaron Sherritt who informed on the gang in an attempt to claim a reward. Secondly, the poster can be se en to target the