The Historic Courthouse
The Beechworth Courthouse is home to the Kelly Trials Exhibition.
The Beechworth Courthouse played a significant role during the Kelly outbreak of 1878-1880, as the location of more than 40 trials and hearings for the Kelly Gang and its sympathisers.
The Kelly Trials Exhibition provides an immersive 270-degree, wrap around multimedia experience, telling the stories of crime and punishment, governance and law, and bushranger Ned Kelly.
Hosted sessions run daily on the hour from 10:00am, with the last session beginning at 3:00pm.
Tickets are available to purchase online via the button above, or from the Beechworth Visitor Information Centre.
Ramp access and service animal friendly.
In October 2024, The Beechworth Courthouse Kelly Trials Exhibition was crowned the winner of the Heritage and Culture Category at the 2024 Victorian Tidy Towns and Cities Sustainability Awards. This award recognises outstanding commitment to the conservation and celebration of a community’s heritage and culture.
Upon entering the Beechworth Historic Courthouse the sheer history held between locally quarried granite walls hits you like an unexpected wave. The belly of the courthouse is airy, towering and grand, somewhat intimidating, evoking thoughts of the many souls that have passed through the building - on both sides of the law. For history buffs, the feeling you get when running your hands along the rock solid red wood of the jury stand, locking eyes directly on the dock where Ned Kelly once stood, is simply exhilarating! Aside from amazing true stories, the Beechworth Historic Courthouse also houses an outstanding law library containing many rare books in the collection.
Built is 1858 and in continuous service for 131 years the Court House has many stories to tell.
Of course, this is where it all began for Ned Kelly - where his mother, Ellen, was sentenced to three years gaol, causing the uprising of one of Australia’s greatest icons. The Beechworth Historic Courthouse saw over 40 trials for the Kelly family, with additional trials for Kelly supporters. Interestingly, it did not host the trial that sealed Kelly’s fate due to the fact that there were too many Kelly supporters in town to find an unbiased jury!
Photo: Ellen Kelly (Ned Kelly's Mother) with her Granddaughters. Courtesy of National Library of Austalia
Perhaps the most fascinating story to come out of the Beechworth Historic Courthouse is that of Elizabeth Scott - the first woman to be hanged in Victoria, trialled in the Beechworth Courthouse.
Elizabeth’s story is a sad one ... married in her early teens to a man 24 years her senior and a known alcoholic, Elizabeth had five children with three passing away in infancy. Elizabeth and her husband Robert ran a “bush inn” where she met two other men, David Gedge and Juilan Cross. The details of her husband’s death have never been clear, other than one of the men shot Robert Scott and attempted to cover it up as a suicide. The police arrested David, who implicated Julian, who in turn implicated Elizabeth. At the trial no evidence was given on Elizabeth's behalf and Victoria's ultra-conservative Chief Justice, Sir William Stawell, known as the 'hanging judge', presided over the case, condemning all three to hang at the Old Melbourne Gaol on 11 November 1863.
Photo: Sir William Stawell. Courtesy of National Library of Austalia
Not all stories from the Beechworth Historic Courthouse end in tragedy, however. Australia’s first Australian born Governor General Sir Isaac Isaacs, spent much of his early career at the courthouse as a judge. Though at his inception many were skeptical about an Australian representing the motherland, these doubts were soon quelled and Sir Isaac Issacs was written into history as one of the most respected and popular Governor Generals in Australia - he also spoke seven languages!
