Francis Kelly (May 1806 – 19 April 1879) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

, business agent, farmer, and politician, noted for his long service as a member of the government of

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

(PEI), and as an advocate for Catholic issues on PEI during the period of

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Canada, Dom ...

His Life Prior to Politics

Born in Mulloloughan,

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ga, Contae Mhuineacháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Cou ...

, Ireland, Kelly was schooled in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, and worked as a teacher and law clerk before emigrating to PEI with his wife, Catherine Lennon, in May, 1835, ten years before the Great Famine. Kelly settled at Fort Augustus, Price Edward Island, not far from the province's capital of

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

. Kelly was hired by the Reverend John McDonald as an assayer and business agent, for whom he worked until May 1846.

Political career

Interested in politics, Kelly made two attempts at election to the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

for the third district of Queens County in the 1840s. He was defeated in those first two attempts, but was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1858, seven years after

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...

had been established. The assembly, having at that time thirty members, was housed in the recently completed Province House. Kelly was elected as the running mate of the quick-tempered

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

George Coles George Coles may refer to: * George Coles (Cambridge University cricketer) (1798–1865), English amateur cricketer * George Coles (politician) (1810–1875), Canadian politician; first Premier of Prince Edward Island * George Coles (Kent cricket ...

, who had recently become the first

Premier of Prince Edward Island The premier of Prince Edward Island is the first minister and head of government for the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. The current premier of Prince Edward Island is Dennis King (politician), Den ...

. Kelly maintained his seat (with the exception of the 1872 session, when the province's government fell over a bankrupting railway policy) until his death in 1879. Kelly's involvement in politics went beyond his being a member of the legislature. Kelly was also a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

Postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

, Taker of Affidavits for the Supreme Court, Commissioner for Taking Recognizance of Bail, member of the Executive Council, Land Survyer and Commissioner of Crown Lands, member of the

Board of Education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

, and captain of the Fort Augustus Rifles (the local

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

Political Positions

A devoted Catholic, Kelly argued for educational concessions for Catholics in the province. Kelly had been in Dublin when

Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...

won his campaign for Catholic Emancipation in Great Britain, and tension over the place of Catholics in the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

also arose in Charlottetown. In 1870, the Liberal government of the province was split over whether or not to publicly fund

St. Dunstan's College ) , type = Public SchoolIndependent day school , chair_label = Chairman of Governors , chair = Paul Durgan , head_label = Head , head = Nicholas Hewlett , address = Stanstead Road, Catford , city = London Bo ...

, a

Catholic school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

. Kelly, strongly in favour of a

separate school In Canada, a separate school is a type of school that has constitutional status in three provinces (Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan) and statutory status in the three territories ( Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut). In these Canadi ...

system, left the Liberal party over the issue, in spite of the fact that current Liberal leader

Robert Poore Haythorne Robert Poore Haythorne (2 December 1815 – 7 May 1891) was a Prince Edward Island politician and premier. He was born in England to a prominent family, his father having been mayor of Bristol on several occasions. Haythorne arrived in Princ ...

was also a supporter. Kelly, along with six other Liberal party Catholics, joined

James Colledge Pope James Colledge Pope, (June 11, 1826 – May 8, 1885) was a land proprietor and politician on Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada. He served as premier of the colony from 1865 to 1867, and from 1870 to 1873. He was premier of PEI in 1873 when ...

Tories A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

. The defection brought the Tories to power. Pope rewarded Kelly by giving him the position of

Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

, a post he kept for two years, and regained through 1875 to 1876, until the school issue cost Pope his control of the House. Kelly, like most of his former Liberal colleagues, opposed

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

. Even though the Tories were seen as less hostile to Confederation, Kelly and Pope (a delegate at the

Charlottetown Conference The Charlottetown Conference (Canada's Conference) was held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island for representatives from colonies of British North America to discuss Canadian Confederation. The conference took place between September 1 thro ...

) both voted for the 1866 "no terms" resolution in response to the Quebec Conference. Both politicians also voted for the "better terms" resolution in 1873, by which time Confederation had come to be viewed both as an economic necessity, and as a benefit for Prince Edward Island's Catholics. Pope and Kelly won their better terms, as the government in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

increased their annual subsidy offer by $25 000. Prince Edward Island joined Confederation July 1 of that year. Kelly also supported

land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...

legislation, a Liberal position with popular support.

Death

Kelly died in 1879, at the age of seventy-six. Tory

Donald A. MacDonald Donald A. MacDonald ( – 9 May 1884)Donald A. MacDonald
at Prince Edward Island Legislative Documents ...

replaced his Assembly seat in a May

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

. His son

Lucius Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from ''Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames (''praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from L ...

later represented 3rd Queens in the provincial assembly.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''Historical PEI election results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Francis 1806 births 1879 deaths Canadian surveyors Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Prince Edward Island Politicians from County Monaghan Prince Edward Island Liberal Party MLAs Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island MLAs Canadian Roman Catholics Canadian postmasters