Henry Perkins at KellyGang

Importance of Henry Perkins

Arrested as a sympathizer

Links to the KellyGang below , Early Years , Teenage years , First run in with the law , Fitzpatrick Incident , Gold Mining , Stringybark Creek Murders , Escape North , Euroa Robbery , Mass arrest of sympathizers , Jerilderie Robbery , Later in 1879 , Early in 1880 , Death of Aaron Sherritt , Glenrowan Siege , After Siege, Royal Commission , Family ,

Family-

brothers ... sisters ... wife ... husband ... parents ... children ...

I lived in the Wombat Ranges. I had been landlord of the Rubicon Hotel at Wangaratta back in 1877

I was continually in Mansfield, and must have seen Sgt Kennedy before. Besides Kennedy had been in the district for years. I lived at Wombat near where the murder took place.
Could the KellyGang have been digging there for so many months, living, and either buying meat, or killing some one else's meat, without my knowing they were there? (RC15531)
Did I know all about the murders ? Did I help the KellyGang? (Argus5/11/78)

On 2/1/1879 Commissioner Standish ordered the arrest of about 20 sympathizers including myself. He took that action under section 5 of the Felony Apprehension Act. Most of us were held in Beechworth goal.

I had been the landlord of the Rubicon Hotel in Wangaratta (Alexandra12/8/1876) (Alexandra11/1/1878)

I was arrested near Mansfield; one of the first people arrested (Argus4/1/79) (Argus6/1/79) (OMA7/1/79)

We were held without ever being given a chance to defend them selves. They remanded us in custody for periods of 7 days. Only one of the sympathizers was represented by a lawyer. The magistrates repeated the remands each week for over 3 months before the sympathizers were finally released

At the start, the arrests had public support in Melbourne but that turned into general contempt for the police. The mass arrests resulted in fewer people being prepared to assist the police or to supply information about the KellyGang

Eventually they dropped the charges against me. (Argus20/1/79)

I wrote Mr JH Graves. "Wombat, Mansfield, May 2nd, 1881.
Sir.-
I hope you have not forgotten to call on me in the Police Enquiry, please inform me if it is coming to Mansfield, and when. In consequence of my arrest as a Kelly sympathizer I have lost three situations. My family are still debarred from selecting."
One of the complaints in the district was that the police have given the names of people who are not entitled to select, and although a great number of those were cases of men well known to be connections and friends and sympathizers of the Kellys, still the indiscriminate way in which that power was used by the police has alienated a great number of people from the police. (RC15517) (RC15531)