James Wallace: The Kelly Gang Sympathiser

Most Australians think they know the full Kelly story.

James Wallace: The Kelly Gang Sympathiser is about a man who was complicit in keeping the Kelly gang at large for two years, but who has somehow been largely forgotten in the annals of Australian history.

James Wallace was a respectable schoolteacher and lifelong friend of gang member Joe Byrne. Working away behind the scenes to protect his friend, Wallace helped to keep the gang provisioned. He contributed to critical letters that told Ned Kelly’s side of the story, fed misleading information to the police, assisted in the collection of the plough shares used in making the gang’s armour, and was likely complicit in a significant murder prior to the gang’s final stand at Glenrowan.

Wallace was dismissed from public service after adverse findings were made against him by a Royal Commission established after the gang’s demise. Under threat of prosecution, Wallace fled to Queensland. Six years would pass before it was safe for him to return, whereupon he commenced a career as a journalist, before leaving his family for a new life with a clairvoyant known as Madame Spontini.