Francis Hare, a Police Superindent, led the successful 1880 hunt for the Australian outlaw Ned Kelly. Kelly’s last stand, clad in armour, is depicted above.
Francis Hare, Born 1830
POLICE SUPERINTENDENT IN AUSTRALIA
Born in South Africa, Francis Hare heard at the age of 22 of the gold rush in Australia and decided to seek his fortune there. After a period surviving the hardships and dangers of the goldfields, he joined the Victoria police. It was a period of extreme lawlessness, with outlaw bushrangers engaging in horse stealing, robbery and murder on a large scale. One of these, Meakin, Hare apprehended single-handed after a life and death struggle. He later led the hunt for the notorious bushranger Ned Kelly and his gang. These were unsuccessfully pursued by the police for several years. Their survival was partly attributable to their fashioning of armour (including bucket-like helmets) made from ploughshares. Hare led the final hunt for the Kelly Gang, which resulted in 1880 in Ned Kelly’s capture and his execution. Hare was wounded during Kelly’s capture and retired shortly thereafter. He became a Police Magistrate, and died in 1892.