Genealogy Forum UK

hi all. i am trying to overcome a bit of a dead end in the search for my great x4 grandfather, hopefully someone here can help me...

my great x3 grandfather, john kelly was a surgeon. he married elizabeth (eliza) price in calcutta on 22/02/1813. they had 6 children, john price kelly (my great x2 grandfather) b1820 d1881, eliza b1813, maria b1814 d1815, john b1816 d1816, louisa b1818, samuel b1822. all of these children were born in the far east...

both john kelly and elizabeth (price) kelly died at some time between 1822 and 1841, i am not sure if this was in india or not...

i am unable to find any information for either john's or elizabeth's birth dates or birth places. i cannot find any information about their parents, where they came from, when they were born etc...

after my visit to the british library this year which confirmed all my information but gave me no new leads i am pretty much stuck. john and elizabeth's marriage details are in a register, there is no marriage certificate with family details on it. john price kelly noted his parents as deceased on his application to join the east india company as a surgeon so no joy there!

i would really appreciate it if anyone could give me some advice regarding how to overcome this barrier, or better still if anyone knows this family...

thanks in anticipation

That sounds very tricky!

Have you tracked all the children? Did they come to the UK? I don't suppose they have any helpful family members living with them?

it certainly seems an impossible thing at the moment! i have only traced back from my direct family, i am rather amateur with all this and haven't had the time to look into all the siblings, there are even more in the following generations! maybe this will be the only way...

John Price Kelly.
Baptism/Christening Date: 16 Apr 1820.
Baptism/Christening Place: CALCUTTA, BENGAL, INDIA.
Birthplace: CHR. CALCUTTA BENGAL INDIA
Father's Name: John Kelly.
Mother's Name: Eliza.
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: C75002-3.
System Origin: India-EASy.
Source Film Number: 498611.
Reference Number: v 11 p 354.

Possible,
Eliza Kelly.
Burial Date: 05 Apr 1830.
Burial Place: Calcutta, Bengal, India.
Age: 42.
Birth Date: 1788.
Marital Status: Widowed.
Spouse's Name: Kelly.
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: B39594-9.
System Origin: India-EASy.
Source Film Number: 498963.
Reference Number:

thanks jimmy, that is definitely my great great grandfather! the details for eliza kelly certainly look likely...

i have been able to confirm that this eliza kelly is my great x3 grandmother... so thanks again jimmy just need to find some info on john now...

you've probably already got this....

1881: 49 The Gardens, Camberwell, London
John P. Kelly 61 Head Retired Army Surgeon Calcutta A.I. British Subject
Ruth Kelly 51 Wife Stoke, Surrey
Mary P. Kelly 27 Dau U Hazaribah, East Indies
Louisa F. Kelly 25 Dau U Hazaribah, East Indies
Agnes T. Kelly 17 Dau U Agra, East Indies
George B. Kelly 20 Son U Delhi, East Indies
James W. Kelly 14 Son Dinapore, East Indies (deaf during the last few years)
Sarah Knight 22 Serv Surrey
Ellen Verdon 19 Serv Liverpool, Lancashire

i have not seen some of the information, but yes, this is where john price kelly retired to. my great grandfather, john henry cusack kelly is missing from this list as he would have been working abroad on the construction of the anglo-indian telegraph...

just to say that this is no longer a brick wall... problem solved, thanks for the help! i have now found great x4 grandfather Dr John Kelly from kildare, ireland...

ian lancaster wrote:just to say that this is no longer a brick wall... problem solved, thanks for the help! i have now found great x4 grandfather Dr John Kelly from kildare, ireland...

Great news Ian -- if you have all the info you need can you return to your initial post and use edit and then add Completed to the title -- it helps the Moderators to know to move the thread to Archives.