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Ned Kelly's Helmet Returns

After travelling more than 12,700 kilometres around Australia, Ned Kelly’s helmet has returned to the State Library of Victoria to complete the armour of our best known bushranger.

A total of 417,746 people saw Kelly’s helmet during the collaborative exhibition, National Treasures from Australia’s Great Libraries which, over 20 months, toured every Australian capital city. The exhibition bought together, for the first time, more than 170 extraordinary items drawn from the collections of Australia’s National, State and Territory libraries. It included treasures such as Don Bradman’s favourite cricket bat, the original score of Waltzing Matilda and Henry Lawson’s pen.

The State Library of Victoria holds many items related to Ned Kelly and the Kelly gang including the Jerilderie Letter, Kelly’s death mask, his rifle, right boot, photos of the 1880 Siege at Glenrowan, police correspondence, newspaper records and cultural ephemera relating to legend of Ned Kelly.

Kelly’s armour is on permanent display in the exhibition The changing face of Victoria, in the Dome Galleries, State Library of Victoria.

Read more about the Kelly Armour >