Isaiah

Wild Wright

"Wild" arrived in the Kelly country in his 20's, and married Brigit Lloyd. He was a hard man throughout his life, making numerous court appearances. He served plenty of prison time for offences it seems, mainly dealing with horses.

Isaiah achieved the name "Wild" through the ability with his fists, and was known to push fellow drinkers out of his way in the local bars announcing, "Men first - Dogs last"

Wild got into a bit of trouble with a young Ned Kelly, due to a certain mare he arrived at the Kelly farm on. Somehow it went missing and young Ned offered to find and return the errant horse, only Wild didn't tell the boy it was stolen... Well, they both ended up doing jail time because of it, only Ned received three years and Wild, (who pinched the horse) received only eighteen months.

After they were released from jail, they both met up in a hotel in Beechworth and instead of smashing the hotel up, a boxing match between the two was decided.

The photograph above was taken on the 8th of August 1874 to celebrate the event in which 20 rounds were fought - bare knuckle! Ned was 19 at the time and Wild was 25. Years later Wild remarked that "He gave me the hiding of my life."

In October 1874, he was sentenced to three years hard labour for "Receiving a Horse Knowing it to be Stolen". His prison record showed him to be in constant trouble, with offences listed: Quarreling, Away from Labour, Improper Language, Assaulting a Prisoner, Having a Black Eye, Annoying a Prisoner, Insolence and numerous other examples of scallywag behaviour...

On his release, Wild returned to the North East and was quite open about his loyalty to the Kelly gang, stirring up the police in Mansfield by shouting "Dog's-Cur's-Cowards!, Follow me if you want to catch the Kelly's, I'm going to join the gang, Come out a little way and I'll shoot the lot of you!"

Horsebreaker, Knuckle man and Kelly Sympathizer Wild Wright

Wild Wright was also an active assistant during the Glenrowan siege, and along with Ned's family, was one of the people to "claim" the charred remains of Dan Kelly and Steve Hart.

Wild Wright was a hard man - in a hard era, not necessarily a bushranger, but a Loyal mate, Stoushman, Police menace and Horse thief.

For more info on Isaiah:

"Stand and Deliver" 100 Australian Bushrangers 1789-1901

by Allan.M.Nixon