John Richards Kelly (28 February 1844 – 20 July 1922) was a British barrister and Conservative Party politician. He was the second son of Frederic Festus Kelly of

Chessington Chessington is an area in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames within Greater London, which was historically part of Surrey. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census it had a population of 18,973. The Bonesgate Stream, a tributary of ...

, 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. Established in England in the 17th century, the GPO was a state monopoly covering the dispatch of items from a specific ...

. 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 (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and went up to

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

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 association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

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 (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...

. 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. 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 an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

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

over

Irish Home Rule The Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for 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 1870 to the end of ...

, 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,

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

in July 1922 aged 78.

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* {{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