Thomas Kelly

KELLY, THOMAS, lawyer and judge; b. October 1833 in Covehead, son of Thomas Kelly and Mary Gracc, both of County Kilkenny, Ireland; m. first 4 September 1867 Mary Emmeline Eskildson, and there were no children; m. secondly 15 November 1871 Marianne H. Campbell, and they had four children, Florence M., Thomas B., Constance M., and one boy unnamed; Roman Catholic; d. 1893. Kelly, a Conservative, was elected to the House of Assembly in the general election of 1873 for 5th Prince. He was defeated in the general election of 1879. In 1870 he was defeated in the Legislative Council election. He was offered the chairmanship of the Railway Board in 1873, and the office of Speaker of the House in 1874. He declined these positions due to a misunderstanding on the question of public education. Kelly resigned his seat in January 1875. Kelly was educated at Central Academy and St. Dunstan's College. He studied law in New Brunswick and with Judge Watters in Saint John. In 1865 he was called first to the New Brunswick Bar and then to the Prince edward Island Bar. Kelly spent most of his life in Summerside, beginning work there in 1865 while maintaining an office in Charlottetown. In 1879 he became County Court Judge, and served as Commissioner for taking affidavits for Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Island, as well as Commissioner for administering oaths for Dominion appointees. In 1870 Kelly was Master in Chancery and in 1871-72 Railway Commissioner. He was a director of the Summerside Bank, License Commissioner in 1877, and the Recorder for the Town of Summerside. In October 1886 Kelly was Revising Officer. Thomas Kelly died in 1893. Mary Kelly, the daughter of Henry W. Eskildson of Saint John, New Brunswick, and formerly of New York, was born ca. 1847 and died 19 October 1868. Marianne Kelly was born ca. 1846 and was the daughter of William A. Campbell of Toronto.