Background
Kelly"s father, Sidney Mellish Kelly, was descended from Edward Meurant, a trader and interpreter at Kāwhia in the 1830s, and his wife, Kenehuru, the daughter of Ngāti Mahuta leader Te Tuhi-o-te-rangi.
Kelly"s father, Sidney Mellish Kelly, was descended from Edward Meurant, a trader and interpreter at Kāwhia in the 1830s, and his wife, Kenehuru, the daughter of Ngāti Mahuta leader Te Tuhi-o-te-rangi.
Leslie Kelly was born in Auckland on 10 May 1906. From the late 1920s, he studied Māori history and wrote articles for the Journal of the Polynesian Society, later writing two books He died in a train crash at Motumaoho, Morrinsville, on 6 August 1959.