Stephen Hart (13 February 1859 – 28 June 1880) was an Australian bushranger, a member of the

Kelly Gang Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a armour of the Kelly gang, suit of bulletproof armour dur ...

History

Hart was born in Wangaratta to Irish immigrant parents Richard and Bridget Hart (née Young). He was their second son. His family consisted of his brothers Richard Hart (Jr.), Hugh Hart and Thomas Hart, and sisters Esther 'Ettie' Hart, Jane Hart, Winifred Hart and Agnes Hart. Hart was a sometime jockey around

Beechworth Beechworth is a well-preserved historical town located in the north-east of Victoria, Australia, famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s. At the , Beechworth had a population of 3,859. Beechworth's many histor ...

and

Wangaratta Wangaratta ( ) is a city in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. The city had an estimated urban population of 19,318 at June 2018. Wangaratta has recorded a population growth rate of almost 1% annually ...

and was reported to have won 'The Benalla Handicap' after a protest was upheld. It was rumoured that he rode around in feminine attire and rode sidesaddle to avoid detection. In 1877, Hart was convicted of

horse theft Horse theft is the crime of stealing horses. A person engaged in stealing horses is known as a horse thief. Historically, punishments were often severe for horse theft, with several cultures pronouncing the sentence of death upon actual or presu ...

and illegal use of a horse and sentenced to 12 months hard labour in

HM Prison Beechworth HM Prison Beechworth, now known as Beechworth Gaol, was a medium security Australian prison located in Beechworth, Victoria, Australia. Construction of the current structure was begun in 1859 and completed in 1864 at a cost of £47,000. The pris ...

. When he was released with the usual remission period he promised to work, and he kept his promise—seeing as he never specified where he would work. One of the Kelly brothers (most likely

Dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...

, as he and Hart were friends and had likely met in gaol at some point) came to his property and asked him to help them pan for gold. This prompted Hart's most famous quote, "Here's to a short life and a merry one!" as he rode off to Bullock Creek to help the Kelly brothers and their friend

Joe Byrne Joseph Byrne (21 November 1856 – 28 June 1880) was an Australian bushranger of Irish descent. A friend of Ned Kelly, he was a member of the "Kelly Gang" who were declared outlaws after the murder of three policemen at Stringybark Creek. De ...

pan for gold. In 1878 the party of four heard shots being fired and, when they investigated, found a police party camped nearby at Stringybark Creek. The next morning the four killed one of the police party. The other two policemen were out looking for the Kelly Brothers as it was not known that Byrne and Hart had joined them. When the two policemen returned to the camp they were ambushed and killed. It is likely that Hart was not armed when the police camp was first held up, but he obtained a firearm afterward. He became an outlaw shortly thereafter, with the rest of the Kelly Gang. Hart took part in the robberies at Euroa and Jerilderie, and a few of the things he did are worth comment. At Euroa he met an old school friend of his, Francis 'Fanny' Shaw (sometimes known as Maggie Shaw) and through her, the police found out the name of the last member of the Kelly Gang. Hart also stole a watch from Robert Scott, the bank manager, and when teller Bob Booth asked him for something to remember the visit by, Hart gave him a lead bullet carved with the letter 'H'. At

Jerilderie Jerilderie is a small, rural town in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Murrumbidgee Local Government Area. At th Jerilderie had a population of 922 people. It can be found along the Newell Highway ...

in 1879 Hart stole a watch from The Very Reverend Gribble, a parson at the Protestant church, and Ned told him to return it, which Hart did, 'looking daggers'. (Ned Kelly: A Short Life by Ian Jones.) After

, Hart went into hiding with the gang and, for most of 1879, the gang remained shadowy and elusive figures although Hart did appear at a St. Kilda doctor's surgery to be treated for a foot condition.

Death

In 1880 Hart took part in the infamous siege of Glenrowan in which he, Dan Kelly and

were killed. Following Joe's death from a police bullet during the night, and Ned's capture in the early morning (at roughly 7am) of the 28th, the two found themselves trapped in the hotel and in a hopeless situation. It seems almost definite the two committed suicide sometime during that afternoon. Their corpses were then badly burnt, as police (not knowing the two had already died) set the Glenrowan Inn on fire in an attempt to draw the outlaws out of the hotel. Hart's body, little more than a charred stump, was claimed by his brother Dick Hart and buried at Greta Cemetery the following day (29 June) in the same grave as Dan Kelly. He was 21 years old. It has been rumoured that Dan Kelly and Steve Hart were not buried in Greta Cemetery but somewhere in either the Hart or the Kelly properties. It has also been rumoured that the pair survived the siege of Glenrowan to escape to either America, South Africa or simply to Queensland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Steve 1859 births 1880 deaths Bushrangers Australian outlaws Australian bank robbers People from Wangaratta Australian people of Irish descent Deaths by firearm in Victoria (Australia) People shot dead by law enforcement officers in Australia