Kelly, Sir William Archibald Howard, Admiral, (1873-1952)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0064 KEL/1-58
Held at	: National Maritime Museum   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/ ›
Full title	: Kelly, Sir William Archibald Howard, Admiral, (1873-1952)
Date(s)	: 1905-1944
Level of description	: Subfonds View parent record
Extent	: 6ft; 180cm
Name of creator(s)	: Kelly | Sir | William Archibald Howard | 1873-1952 | Knight | Admiral

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Howard Kelly, brother of Sir John Kelly, served in the TEMERAIRE and CRUISER in the Mediterranean between 1889 and 1892 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1894. From 1902 to 1904 he served in Somaliland, returning from the East Indies Station in 1906. He was in naval intelligence from 1907, promoted to captain in 1911 and was then naval attachee; in Paris for three years. In 1914 he was given command of the GLOUCESTER and won distinction by his determined chase of the GOEBEN. He was Commodore of the Light Cruiser Squadron, 1917, and, in 1918, of the British Adriatic Force. Between 1919 and 1921 he was head of the Naval Mission to Greece and was promoted to rear-admiral in 1922. In the next year he commanded the First Battle Squadron and in 1925 the Second Cruiser Squadron. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1927 and for the next two years he commanded the First Battle Squadron. After this he was second-in-command, Mediterranean Fleet, until 1930. In 1931 he became an admiral and went out to China until 1933, as Commander-in-Chief of the station. Kelly retired in 1936. He visited Australia in 1938 and then went to lecture in Canada in 1940. From that year until 1944 he was naval representative in Turkey.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of Sir William Archibald Howard Kelly, consisting of a draft of his memoirs which is very detailed until 1933; after this period it has only a few notes and observations on Turkey. The diaries for 1899, 1901, 1903, 1905 to 1907, 1910, 1914 to 1916, 1919 to 1921, 1923 to 1929 and 1931 to 1933 are also detailed. The correspondence forms two groups; the first, 1914 to 1917, includes letters from Earl Beatty (1871-1936), Admiral Tyrwhitt (1870-1951) and Lord Jellicoe (1859-1935); the second group, 194G to 1944, includes those from Admirals Cunningham, Harwood (1888-1950) and Willis (1889-1976). Some notebooks, news cuttings and articles complete the collection.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

Please contact the Archive for further information.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Please contact the Archive for further information.

Finding aids:

Detailed catalogue online at the: National Maritime Museum website .

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

The papers were presented in 1953 by Captain Charles Ford Hamill after Admiral Kelly had, to a large extent, arranged them.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Edited by Sarah Drewery, Sep 2011.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
2010-08-26