Harry Power
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Harry Power (1819-1891) was an Australian Bushranger. It is believed that Ned Kelly served as his accomplice while a teenager.
[edit] Early life
Henry Johnson was born in 1819 and grew up in England. In 1841 he was sentenced to transportation to Australia for stealing shoes.
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. Some historians have seen this as evidence of police harassment which justified Kelly's hostile opinion of the law and its enforcers. Others believe that witnesses were intimidated by his relatives.
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.
[edit] 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 Prison Hulk Success, on which he had once served a sentence, and was now a museum.
In 1891 Harry Power drowned in the Murray River at Swan Hill, Victoria. He had survived Ned Kelly by eleven years.
