16th April 1929
To the Honourable
   The Chief Secretary
       Melbourne C1
            The desecration of the grave of Ned Kelly
Dear Sir,- It was with intense feelings of horror that I read of the hunnish desecration of Ned Kelly's grave...
   ...Ned Kelly's heroism in defending his mother's integrity, his sister's honour and his brother's innocence has claimed for him a place in the hearts of fair-minded people of Australia.
      Would it not, therefore, be a gracious act on your part to hand over the remains of Ned Kelly, when removed from the 'head-hunters' to his only surviving brother, Mr. Jim Kelly of Greta, for internment in consecrated grounds.
                      Yours faithfully
                               J.J. KENNEALLY   

(The chief secretary, Dr. Argyle MLA replied on 19/4/1929 that he had no power to authorise the adoption of this suggestion)

James Jerome Kenneally (1870-1949) is the author of "The Complete Inner History of the Kelly Gang and Their Pursuers", first published in March 1929, for which he made an exhaustive study of the lengthy Royal Commission on the police force of Victoria, also being willingly supplied with inside information from members of the Kelly clan.
"The providore (Tom Lloyd, a first cousin of Ned Kelly) was the chief scout and confidential assistant of the Kellys, and he was the only living person who was able to give me, in detail, their policy, programme and actual performances."

REVIEW BY JIM KELLY, ONLY SURVIVING BROTHER OF NED AND DAN KELLY
                                        Eleven Mile Creek
                                           Glenrowan West
                                             December 1930

Dear Mr. Kenneally,- I have read your book with a great deal of satisfaction, and I must congratulate you on having rendered a great service in the course of TRUTH AND JUSTICE...
      
          ...Wishing that your book will be found in every home in Australia.
                                  I am,
                                    Yours Sincerely,
                                           JAMES KELLY

There's a lot more in the body of James Kelly's letter of course, and other letters in Kenneally's book from people who lived in N.E. Victoria during the 'outbreak' contain some interesting observations.

Peter Carey's opus, labelled as 'true history' is a crock of bullshit. Booker Prize-winner or not, he misses the point in his attempts to emulate the cadences of speech in the Jerilderie and Cameron letters (substantially written by Joe Byrne according to legend). When I came to the phrase "There were no income generated" I had to stop reading. For good or ill, I'm too familiar with the songs and stories.
Brother Jim has strong words of criticism for mercenary journalists, one especially protecting himself "...by calling his concoction 'a novel.'"

Ian Jones' "A Short Life" is the Kelly story very well-written, the result of many years of research.

So, it's taken a while for the man's body to be returned to his family. The charred remains of Dan Kelly and Steve Hart were claimed by their relatives immediately at Glenrowan, the traps not daring to intervene or go after them.

"And I'll sing again, long may they reign, the Kellys, Byrne and Hart"