Push to honour Hugh Bracken, the brave constable who helped capture the Kelly Gang
An effort is underway to honour the memory of a police officer who was held hostage by the Kelly Gang before playing a lesser-known but crucial role in the capture of the outlaws.
Constable Hugh Bracken was stationed at Glenrowan, north-east Victoria, in June 1880 and was kidnapped and held hostage in the Glenrowan Inn during the Kelly Gang's infamous last stand.
Ned Kelly and his crew had destroyed part of the train line and killed local man Aaron Sherritt, knowing the police would send reinforcements from Melbourne.
They forced the townspeople into the inn at gunpoint then lay in wait for the train to derail, ready to ambush survivors, but the crash never came.
Constable Bracken had managed to escape and warn police, which gave them the chance to call in reinforcements and surround the inn.
Now, two cemetery trusts and the Victoria Police Historical Graves Committee are working to get Constable Bracken's contributions recognised.
