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==Early life==
==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 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]].

Referred to as a "Juvenile Bushranger", Kelly was arrested in May 1870. But after a month and two court appearances, he was acquitted of all charges and released.

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 [[Hulk (ship)|Prison Hulk]] [[Success (prison ship)|''Success'']], on which he had once served a sentence, and was now a museum.

In 1891 Harry Power fell in and drowned in the Murray River at [[Swan Hill, Victoria]]. He had survived Ned Kelly by eleven years.
{{Unreferenced|date=September 2007}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Power, Harry}}
[[Category:1819 births]]
[[Category:1891 deaths]]
[[Category:Bushrangers]]
[[Category:Australian outlaws]]
[[Category:Australian folklore]]
[[Category:People from Victoria]]

Revision as of 06:27, 17 June 2008

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

Early life