Ned Ryan: The Man Behind the Name

Edward (Ned) Ryan was born in 1786 in County Tipperary, Ireland. He was the son of John Ryan, a farmer, and Anastasia Hennessy.

In 1810, Ned married Ellen Nagle with whom he had three children: Anastasia (1813), Thomas (1814, who died aged three years and six months), and John (1815). Less than a year after the birth of his youngest son, Ned found himself aboard the ‘Surrey’ on his way to serve a 14-year sentence of transportation to the colony of New South Wales. It would be 31 years before he was reunited with his family when they joined him in Australia.

Ned made his name, and his fortune, squatting on land around Galong, NSW after he had received his Certificate of Freedom in 1830. He was well-respected for freely devoting his wealth and influence to the advancement of the Boorowa district, earning him the title of ‘The Patriarch of the Lachlan’.

Ned Ryan has been described as an industrious and ambitious man who stood “five feet six and a half inches” (1.7m) tall, had a ruddy complexion, hazel eyes and “brown hair mixed with grey”. (1) He often rode a cream pony and wore buckskin breeches and shiny black boots.

Ned was renowned for his hospitality, offering food and accommodation to travellers, swaggies, friends, politicians, and clergy alike. The Australian bush, then as it is now, was known to be the most traversable area without money or friends. No matter where someone was, as long as they could make it to Ned Ryan’s, they would not only have a place to stay but a home-away-from-home.

(1) This information was noted on the back of his Certificate of Freedom in 1930. National Museum of Australia, ‘Story Circle’, https://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/not-just-ned/about/about/story-circle.