Harry Power

Harry Power (1819-1891) was an Australian Bushranger. It is believed, by some, that Ned Kelly served as his accomplice while a teenager.

Early life

He was born Henry Johnson in Waterford, Ireland on 18 May 1820 and grew up in Ashton under Lyne, Lancashire, England, where he worked in the cotton mills. On the 31 August 1840 at the Salford Assizes he was sentenced to transportation for 7 years in Australia for stealing a pair of shoes. He arrived at Hobart aboard the Isabella on May 21st 1842 having departed England on 15 Jan 1842.

He was freed in 1848 and moved to Sydney. By now he was calling himself Harry Power. In 1855 he was arrested for injuring a police officer. It seems that the officer suspected that Power's horse had been stolen and demanded proof of ownership. Since he did not have any proof, Power wounded the officer and escaped. He was caught and sentenced to 14 years. He was released after serving six years, but was again jailed in 1864 for horse stealing. Escaping from Pentridge Prison in 1869, the 50-year-old Power turned to highway robbery and became known as the "Gentleman Bushranger". He was highly successful and a reward of £500 was offered for his capture (a large sum of money at that time). There were claims that during these robberies Power had a youthful assistant who took care of the horses. Suspicion fell on the then 16-year-old Ned Kelly. Power himself was captured on the 5 July 1870. There is some suggestion that Kelly's relatives may have betrayed him to the police. He was arrested while on their land.

Later life

Power was not released from prison until February 1885, aged 66. For a while he worked as a tour guide for the old Prison Hulk Success, on which he had once served a sentence, and was by then a museum. In 1891 Harry Power fell in and drowned in the Murray River at Swan Hill, Victoria.

External links

Photos of Harry Power from the State Library of Victoria

• Lyrics to song 'The Last Bushranger: Ballad of Harry Power,' by JOE DOLCE.)