Legendary Australian outlaw Ned Kelly will finally be laid to rest next to his mother in a grave not far from the site of his last stand, in accordance with his dying wishes, his family said. Descendants of the notorious bushranger hanged at Old Melbourne Gaol in 1880 after murdering three policemen said they would bury Kelly in a private funeral on Sunday next to his mother, Ellen. Kelly’s remains were thrown into a mass grave after his execution and discovered during prison renovations in 1929, when they were reburied at Pentridge Prison, except for his skull, which remains missing. Officially, their whereabouts were a mystery until late 2011, when a DNA test on bones exhumed from Pentridge Prison confirmed they were Kelly’s. Redevelopment workers at the now-closed prison wanted to reinter Kelly’s remains in a museum or memorial, but the Victorian state government last year ordered them returned to the family. Gary Dean, a historian and friend of the Kelly family, told AFP the outlaw would be given a formal farewell at a Catholic service in the town of Wangaratta on Friday before being buried in an unmarked grave. Anthony Griffiths, the great-grandson of Kelly’s sister Grace, said he expected a “reasonable percentage” of the outlaw’s hundreds of descendants to attend the memorial service, but stressed it was not about glorifying him. “For us, it’s just a family burial ceremony,” Griffiths said. The Kelly family said he would be buried in a small cemetery in the town of Greta, near Glenrowan, the scene of his final shootout with police, which he famously survived thanks to his homemade armor and helmet. “The Kelly family’s descendants wish to honour Ned Kelly’s final wish and bury him in consecrated ground, with only his family present, to ensure a private, respectful and dignified funeral,” the family told The Age newspaper. “The family would like their privacy to be respected so they can say goodbye to a much loved family member.” Kelly’s three accomplices, including his younger brother Dan, were killed in the Glenrowan confrontation. This ended an 18-month campaign in which the so-called Kelly Gang became folk heroes for robbing banks in rural towns. When they were caught by police, an £8,000 bounty was placed on the gang – the highest reward ever offered in the British Empire at the time. Relatives disagreed about what should happen to Kelly’s body. Some family members wanted the remains to be put on public display, others felt he should rest in peace. The whereabouts of Kelly’s skull was the subject of controversy. Over the years, numerous people have come forward claiming to own it – most recently a self-proclaimed New Zealand witch who claimed to have obtained it in 1980. Considered by some to be a cold-blooded killer, Kelly was also considered a folk hero and a symbol of Irish-Australian resistance to British authorities. His exploits have been the subject of numerous films and television series. Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger starred in the 1970 film Ned Kelly, while Heath Ledger played the bandit in a 2003 remake. Kelly has also served as the inspiration for many books, most notably Peter Carey’s novel The True Story of the Kelly Gang, which won the 2001 Booker Prize.