John Richards Kelly (28 February 1844 – 20 July 1922) was a British barrister and

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician. He was the second son of

Frederic Festus Kelly Frederic Festus Kelly (died 3 June 1883) was a high official in the British Post Office. He was also the founder of Kelly & Co. (later Kelly's Directories Ltd.), which published the Kelly's Directory, a sort of Victorian-era "Yellow Pages" that l ...

of Chessington, Surrey and his wife Harriet née Richards. At the time of his birth his father was the Inspector of Letter Carriers for the

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...

. He was also in charge of producing the ''Post Office Directory'' which he subsequently refounded as a private publication. John attended

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and went up to

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

in 1862 from where he graduated with a B.A. in 1870. In the same year he began studying law at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

and was called to the bar in 1878. He practiced on the South Eastern Circuit. He worked for a time as a ''Law Times'' reporter in the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cou ...

. In 1879 he married his cousin, Fanny Lydia Kelly. In 1883 he inherited his father's interests in

Kelly's Directories Ltd. Kelly's Directory (or more formally, the Kelly's, Post Office and Harrod & Co Directory) was a trade directory in England that listed all businesses and tradespeople in a particular city or town, as well as a general directory of postal addresses o ...

, and became a director of the company. His nephew was the painter Sir Gerald Kelly. In 1886, he was selected as Conservative Party candidate to contest the constituency of Camberwell North at the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. His elder brother was well known in the area as vicar of Camberwell, and Kelly benefited from a split in the Liberal Party over

Irish Home Rule The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for Devolution, self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1 ...

, with two rival Liberal candidates in the field. He succeeded in winning the seat for the Conservatives, but proved to be unpopular with a section of his own party, and it came as little surprise when he was defeated at the next general election in 1892. He did not stand for

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

again. He died at his home in

Worplesdon Worplesdon is a village NNW of Guildford in Surrey, England and a large dispersed civil parish that includes the settlements of: Worplesdon itself (including its central church area, Perry Hill), Fairlands, Jacobs Well, Rydeshill and Wood S ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

in July 1922 aged 78.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, John Richards 1844 births 1922 deaths People educated at Eton College Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1886–1892 English book publishers (people) Members of the Inner Temple Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge English barristers