Former bootmaker's shop where bushranger Ned Kelly tried to hide after evading his police escort on 18th September 1877. He was re-arrested after a scuffle in the shop

Benalla Courthouse

Benalla Botanical Gardens

Mt Samara rail trail

Memorial at Stringbark Creek in Toombullup State Forest, where in October 1878, the Kelly Gang members became the most wanted outlaws in Australia after Police Constables Lonigan, Scanlan and Kennedy were shot and killed. More ...

A provincial city which serves its local farming community with services, railway workshops, dairy produce factories, railway workshops, flour and timber mills. The town is also associated with bushranger Ned Kelly.

Where is it?: Victoria: North East. Benalla is 198 km north east of Melbourne on the Hume Highway and about 40 km south of Wangaratta.

Events: The Benalla Rose Festival is held in November, the Australia Felix Benalla Easter Arts Festival at Easter and the Agricultural Show (which commenced in 1878) in October. The Lakeside Craft Market is held on the fourth Saturday of each month.

Things to see and do:

Benalla Botanical Gardens are renowned for their roses, and indeed the gardens are the anchor for the city's Rose Festival each November. A fitting memorial to Benalla's most famous son, Edward (Weary) Dunlop, stands in the Rose Gardens.

Pride of the Benalla Pioneer Museum's collection is a cummerbund given to Ned Kelly for saving a boy, Dick Shelton, from drowning in a flood. Joe Byrne, a member of Ned Kelly's infamous bushranging gang, who was slain at Glenrowan, is buried in the Benalla cemetery.
In 1869, a 14-year-old Ned Kelly was charged in the local courthouse for assaulting and robbing Ah Fook but was found not guilty for lack of supportive evidence. Ned Kelly reappeared at Benalla courthouse in 1877, charged with being drunk and disorderly and riding a horse on the footpath. After a fracas on the way to the courthouse additional charges emerged - assaulting a policeman in the course of his duty, resisting the police and damaging a constable's uniform. He emphatically claimed the police had doped his liquor and was fined two pounds and ordered to pay court costs and damages. The Commercial Hotel became the headquarters for the 'Kelly hunt' in 1878 and, in 1880, Ned was held at Benalla police station en route to his hearing at Beechworth after the siege at Glenrowan.

Surrounding area:

Reef Hills State Park (4 km south-west) is a 2040-hectare forest with a range of flora and fauna amidst eucalypt forest. Gold was discovered here in 1860 and worked into the early 20th century though returns were not substantial. There are open picnic areas.

Mt Samaria State Park (22 km south) is an attractive and forested semi-remote area which encloses a rugged plateau to the south of Benalla. It was long used by Aborigines prior to the grazing and logging practices of the European settlers. Wildlife is abundant, as are wildflowers in spring. There are waterfalls, magnificent stands of trees, scenic views and abundant birdlife. Visitors can enjoy scenic walks and drives, picnics, camping, bushwalking and photography.

Brief history: The town's name is derived from the Aboriginal word for Musk Duck.The site was originally taken up as a pastoral run by the Reverend Joseph Docker in 1838 and called Benalta Run, from the Aboriginal word for Musk Duck. The town was laid out on the site in 1846. The Post Office opened on 1 December 1844 but named Broken River until 1 January 1854.

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