William Henry Kelly (1 December 187727 January 1960) was an Australian politician. He served in the House of Representatives from 1903 to 1919, and served as an honorary minister under Prime Minister

Joseph Cook Sir Joseph Cook, (7 December 1860 – 30 July 1947) was an Australian politician who served as the sixth Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1913 to 1914. He was the leader of the Liberal Party from 1913 to 1917, after earlier serving ...

from 1913 to 1914.

Early life

Kelly was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and educated at

All Saints College, Bathurst All Saints' College was an independent, co-educational Christian college in the Anglican tradition. It was established in 1874, and closed in 2018 to merge with The Scots School, Bathurst, to form Scots All Saints' College, with campuses in an ...

, and Eton College from 1893 to 1896. He married Olive Miller (better-known under the stage name of Olive Morrell) in London in January 1908.

Politics

In 1903 Kelly was elected to the seat of Wentworth in the Australian House of Representatives, representing the

Free Trade Party The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states, was an Australian political party, formally organised in 1887 in New South Wales, ...

. In parliament, Kelly was known for his habit of smoking cigars in the chamber, although he was eventually asked to stop by the speaker Frederick Holder. This combined with his Etonian manners meant he was held in little regard by the Australian Labor Party (ALP).

Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia, in office from 1915 to 1923. He is best known for leading the country during World War I, but ...

once said that he had "as much idea of the work of the world as a butterfly has of casting an 81-ton gun". In May 1909, at the instigation of

Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia. He was a leader of the movement for Federation, which occurred in 1901. During his three terms as prime ministe ...

, Kelly moved the motion to adjourn that ended ALP leader Andrew Fisher's first term as prime minister. From June 1913 to September 1914, Kelly was an honorary minister in the Cook Ministry. He reversed King O'Malley's decision to build Walter Burley Griffin's plan for

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

using the departmental plan and instead appointed Griffin as Federal capital director of design and construction. He also negotiated a plan for standardisation of Australia's rail gauge, but this was scrapped when the Fisher government came to power in September 1914. He was in opposition until the formation of the Nationalist Government in February 1917. He did not get a ministry in the Hughes government and retired at the 1919 election.

Later life

Kelly separated from his wife, who took their daughter Mary Wentworth Kelly back to England. He died at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in the Sydney suburb of Camperdown, aged eighty-two. He was the last surviving member of

's Cabinet, as well as the last surviving MP who served during

's three tenures as Prime Minister, as well as during the Prime Ministerships of

Chris Watson John Christian Watson (born Johan Cristian Tanck; 9 April 186718 November 1941) was an Australian politician who served as the third prime minister of Australia, in office from 27 April to 18 August 1904. He served as the inaugural federal lead ...

, George Reid and Andrew Fisher's first tenure. His younger brother was the composer and oarsman Frederick Septimus Kelly.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, William Free Trade Party members of the Parliament of Australia Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Wentworth People educated at Eton College 1877 births 1960 deaths Commonwealth Liberal Party members of the Parliament of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians