A doomed business: the material culture of Ann Jones and the Glenrowan Inn

At the start of June 1880, Ann Jones was running a successful Inn at Glenrowan, but by the end of the month her home and business lay in ruins. The Kelly Gang had holed up in her bar in their attempt to fend off the Victoria Police, and ultimately Ann’s property was burnt to the ground. While Ann is in many ways a footnote to the Kelly story, the siege has left an interesting record of the ordinary life of an uneducated, Irish woman in 19th-century regional Victoria. She has received much more attention than others like her; both in the historical records and in having her home excavated by archaeologists. As such, the artefacts recovered from the site along with the historical record provide a rare opportunity to examine how material culture was used to establish a respectable business and personal position in society.