Biographical entry Kelly, William (1823 - 1909)

Summary

William Kelly was a Jesuit priest, teacher and amateur scientist. He taught religious education as well as in history, zoology, literature, physics, astronomy and chemistry. In 1871 he wrote a paper on tests for arsenic for Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. This won him election to the Society's council in 1872-73. He also had a passion and talent for optics and astronomy. In 1882 the Royal Astronomical Society invited him to join the party which intended to observe the transit of Venus from the Blue Mountains.

Published resources

Book Sections

• O'Kelly, G. J., 'Kelly, William (1823-1909)', in Douglas Pike (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 5, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1974, pp. 10-11. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A050013b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• Kelly, William, 'On a Method of Combining Marsh's Test for Arsenic with Reinsch's', Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, vol. 10, Wilson & Mackinnon, Melbourne, 1874, p. 116. Details

Online Resources

• National Library of Australia, 'Kelly, William', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-611216. Details