John Richards Kelly

Who was John Richards Kelly?

John Richards Kelly was a British barrister and Conservative Party politician.

He was the second son of Frederic Festus Kelly 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. He was also in charge of producing the Post Office Directory which he subsequently refounded as a private publication.

John attended Eton College and went up to Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1862 from where he graduated with a B.A. in 1870. In the same year he began studying law at the Inner Temple 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. In 1879 he married his cousin, Fanny Lydia Kelly.

In 1883 he inherited his father's interests in Kelly's Directories Ltd., and became a director of the company.

In 1886 he was selected as Conservative Party candidate to contest the constituency of Camberwell North at the general election.