Painter, draughtsman, printmaker and teacher, born in Workington, Cumberland, into a strongly religious background, his father a carpenter. He could “draw with a pencil before I could talk”. From 1932 became a telegraph messenger in 1934 postal and telegraph officer for Kendal. In the Army in World War II drew maps and diagrams and was influenced by the work of Paul Klee, Graham Sutherland, Stanley Spencer and C F Tunnicliffe, seen in exhibitions. In 1946 he resumed Post Office duties, showing at RA, RI, RBA, RSA and elsewhere. Kelly resigned from Post Office in 1958, taught part-time and took up printmaking. From 1961–5, having raised £500, studied lithography and printed textiles at Carlisle College of Art and Design, obtaining distinctions, in 1964 gaining a travel scholarship to Brittany.