James Whyte Kelly (1855 – 15 December 1938) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician, initially of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

but later an

Independent Liberal Independent Liberal is a description which candidates and politicians have used to describe themselves, designating them as liberals, yet independent of the official Liberal Party of their country. To avoid confusion with the Liberal Party of ...

Biography

Kelly was born in 1855 at

Carluke Carluke (; ) is a town that lies in the heart of the Lanarkshire countryside in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, northwest of Lanark and southeast of Wishaw. Carluke is largely a commuter town, with a variety of small stores and supermarkets a ...

South Lanarkshire South Lanarkshire (; ) is one of 32 unitary authorities of Scotland. It borders the south-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains some of Greater Glasgow's suburban towns, as well as many rural towns and villages. It also shares bor ...

, Scotland. He became an orphan aged 14. He learned the trade of a tailor, and married Elizabeth Millar, the daughter of James Millar of

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

in Lanarkshire. The couple emigrated in 1875 on the ''Aldergrove'' to New Zealand, landing in

Port Chalmers Port Chalmers () is a town serving as the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre. History Early Māori settlement The or ...

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

. They later moved south to

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

. He represented the

electorate in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from

1890 Events January * January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa. * January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House. * January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The Uni ...

. He was in favour of land nationalisation and progressive taxes. In 1895, he broke away from the Liberal Party and became an Independent Liberal. He was defeated in the 1899 election. From 1892 to 1894, Kelly served as president of the federated New Zealand Workers' Union. Kelly died on 15 December 1938.

References

1855 births 1938 deaths New Zealand Liberal Party MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates People from Carluke Scottish emigrants to New Zealand 19th-century New Zealand politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 1899 New Zealand general election Colony of New Zealand people {{NewZealand-Liberal-politician-stub