Agent TypePersonPlace of BirthCorowa, NSWPlace of DeathMelbourne, VictoriaActivities & OccupationsAcademics - EnglishGenderMaleHistoryTimothy John Kelly (Tim) was born in Corowa, New South Wales, the eighth of nine children. He was educted at Assumption College, Kilmore, a school to which her felt a lifelong loyalty. Upon matriculating, he entered the priesthood joining the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSH).
The Order sent him to Christ's College, Cambridge after the end of World War Two. He studied under F.R. Leavis and took out an MA with first-class honours. Leavis remained an abiding influence. He returned to Australian in the late 1940s and taught at MSH schools until 1956 when he was appointed headmaster at Downlands College, the MSH boarding school in Toowoomba. He remained there until 1962. The University of Queensland approached him in the early 1960s and asked him to tutor in English literature. This began his distinguished academic career. His book The Focal Word, an exploration of poetry, was published in 1966.
He was invited to apply for a lectureship in the Department of English at the University of Sydney in the 1960s, and then moved to Melbourne in 1970 to take up a Senior Lectureship in the English Department. While teaching at Melbourne he lived for a time at Newman College. He personally taught first year English, taking tutorials himself, which was unusual for a Senior Lecturer.
He left the priesthood in 1973 and married Vivienne Ellis in 1974; they had two sons. The marriage broke up in 1990. He retired from full time teaching in 1984, but continued to teach part time in the University of Melbourne Department, La Trobe University, and the University of the Third Age while travelling and sharing his later years with a loved companion. He died in Melbourne at the age of 90 in February 2010, a much loved teacher.
![[2010.0014] Papers of Timothy John Kelly](/img/placeholder.gif?1768172494 "[2010.0014] Papers of Timothy John Kelly")