Author: Kelly, Hugh
Biography:
KELLY, Hugh (1739-77: DIB)
His father was Ferdinand Kelly, a Protestant landowner in Killarney, County Kerry, who lost his estate and moved to Dublin where he owned a tavern. His mother’s name is not known. Kelly was apprenticed to a stay-maker in Dublin but moved to London about the time of his marriage in 1761; his wife’s first name was Elizabeth. They had numerous children but just four were living at the time of his death and one was born posthumously. In London he began writing for and editing periodicals—the Ladies’ Museum, Court Magazine, and the Gazetteer. In the 1760s he wrote a series of essays, as by “the Babler,” for Owen’s Weekly Chronicle. They were published in book form by J. Newbery and Kelly also wrote for Newbery’s Public Ledger. His poem Thespis: or, a Critical Examination…of all the Principal Performers belonging to Drury Lane Theatre appeared in 1766 and he met David Garrick who had escaped Kelly’s criticisms in the poem. A novel, Memoirs of a Magdalen, or The History of Louisa Mildmay, was published in 1767. His first play, “False Delicacy,” was performed at Drury Lane in 1768, and was followed by several more. Although his plays were moderately successful, he struggled to support his growing family and decided to become a barrister in hopes of securing a more reliable income. He entered Middle Temple and was called to the bar in 1773 but his legal career never flourished. He died from infection at his home in Gough Square on 3 Feb. 1777. A benefit performance of Kelly’s A Word to the Wise with a preface by Samuel Johnson was staged at Covent Garden in May of 1777 to raise funds for his widow and children. Some years after his death, his widow moved to Dublin where she opened “a tea and grocery wareroom.” (DIB 25 Apr. 2021; ODNB 25 Apr. 2021; The Works of Hugh Kelly, to which is Prefixed the Life of the Author [1778]; Scots Magazine 1 July 1777; Derby Mercury 19 Jan. 1792)