Born in Cork, Co. Galway, on the 19th of January 1822.
Enlisted into the 5th Dragoon Guards at Dublin on the 2nd of March 1842. Regimental No. 763.
Age: 20 years 2 months.
Height: 5' 9".
Trade: Clerk.
Transferred to the 4th Light Dragoons on the 20th of June 1844.
From Private to Corporal: 21st of September 1846.
Corporal to Sergeant: 10th of July 1844.
He married Mary Atkinson at Gort on the 27th of December 1848 (she was still alive on the 1st of April 1870) and had by her nine children:
William, christened at Gort on the 25th of November 1849.
Hanna Elizabeth, christened Norwich, 26th of April 1852.
Henrietta Jane, christened Gort, 12th of September 1856.
Edward Harry, christened Brighton, 10th of May 1857.
Grace, christened Nottingham, 14th of July 1859.
Marion, christened Cahir, 23rd of August 1861.
Agnes May, christened in the Royal Hospital Chapel, Dublin, 5th of October 1863.
George Atkinson, christened St. George's, Hulme, Manchester, 6th of October 1867.
Kate, christened Edinburgh, 11th of March 1869.
Appointed to Troop Sergeant Major on the 20th of October 1854.
Promoted to Regimental Sergeant Major: 5th of November 1854.
Promoted to Cornet (without purchase): 31st of August 1858.
Quartermaster (by appointment) in the 4th Light Dragoons from the 15th of November 1859.
Quartermaster (by exchange) in the 8th Hussars from the 20th of October 1867.
Honorary rank of Captain, and on to half-pay from the 10th of November 1877.
Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman and Sebastopol.
Awarded the French War Medal. The citation for this stated:
"For gallant conduct in the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava on the 25th of October 1854."
Member of the Balaclava Commemoration Society in 1879.
Died in January of 1887, aged 65 years.
From "The Irish Times", 9th of January 1887:
"Death — January the 8th, at No. 7 St. George's Place, Dublin. — Captain James William Kelly, aged 65 years."
(See copy of his death certificate in the "Certificates" file.)
From the "Army and Navy Gazette", January 1887:
"Captain James W. Kelly (Quartermaster) died on the 8th of January 1887. He served in the Light Brigade at Balaclava, where his horse was shot under him."
The following appeared in "The Times", 15th of January 1887:
Last Tuesday, Captain James William Kelly, one of the few remaining survivors of the famous Charge of the Light Brigade, was laid in his last resting-place in Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin.
In 1854 Captain Kelly was with the 4th Light Dragoons (now the Queen's Own Hussars) and served with the regiment at Dobrudja and in the Crimea. He was engaged in the battles of the Alma, Balaclava, and in the various affairs around Sebastopol.
At Balaclava he received a sabre cut across the right shoulder and had a horse killed under him during the melee at the Russian guns.
He subsequently exchanged into the 8th Hussars, and with whom he served at Aldershot, Manchester and various other stations."
He was buried in Grave No, C7072-38 on the 11th of January 1887, the grave having a marble headstone and kerb. The lettering is now (1983) somewhat defaced, and only he is buried there.
Inscriptions on his erected gravestone:
On the scroll at the top are the words "Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman, Sebastopol", with "1854-55" in the centre.Under this is "In memory of Captain James W. Kelly, formerly of the 4th and 8th Hussars, who died 8th of January 1887, in his 65th year. "Honour the Charge they made, Honour the Light Brigade, Noble Six Hundred."
The lettering, of leaded inserts, has now [1988] almost all disappeared, although the indentations from the lettering are still well visible.
(See photograph of the stone in the 4th Hussar file.)
The grave-plot was purchased by a Hamilton J. Kelly.