Robert Austen Kelly (abt. 1871 - abt. 1951)

Born about 1871 in Bahamas

Ancestors

Husband of Lillian Alstine (Symonette) Kelly — married 14 Jan 1903 in Current Settlement, Eleuthera, Bahamas

Descendants

Died about 1951 at about age 80 in Miami, Dade, Florida

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Michelle Zealander [send private message]

Robert Austen Kelly is part of a Bahamian family.

Biography

Robert Austen Kelly was born at the Bluff Settlement about 1871. ^[1] Robertwas born on North Eleuthera, presumably at the Bluff Settlement. He was the son of Thomas Lofthouse Kelly and Margaret G. Olivia Lowe.

Family lore has it that each of the Kelly brothers had his own sponge boat. As the late 1880's were times of economic hardship in The Bahamas , the brothers, Robert included, all planned to relocate to Key West. Instead Robert fell in love

Robert was smitten when he returned to the the Bluff Settlement, (near the Current) to visit his mother, she was iil, While visiting he met his soul mate, s Lillian Symonette of the Current Settlement. On 14 Jan 1903, the couple married in the Weslyan Chapel at Current.

When the couple married, Birchenell Longden was the minister. The Kellys may have carried on a family tradition by naming one of their offspring after Wesleyan minister Birchenell Longden . Their siblings Zettie Elizabeth Symonette and Ernest Sincerity Kelly witnessed the union. ( Zettie and Ernest later married one another but died of tuberculosis at relatively young ages.)

The family lived in a home near the water where Symonette park is now located and Birchenell Kelly or one of his relatives had a home nearby.* At the time the settlement had a population of around 300 people, in contrast to the 100 or less who reside there in 2020. The couple remained at the Current for a time and then related in Nassau, living just off of Bay Street. The move occurred in the early 30's and it may have been related to Roland Symonette.

According to one of Robert's grandsons; during his work life Robert Austen Kelly was a farmer and seaman. He served as a pilot of the schooners that came in from New York and Baltimore to collect pineapples from Governor s Harbour. He also served as skipper on the schooner owned by Methodist Church. It would go to the various islands to inspect the the churches of Bahamas Methodist Circuit.

Robert was a devout Methodist, he served as a local preacher in the Methodist Church and sometimes preached at the Zion Baptist Church as well.

Appropriately, Robert Austen Kelly is buried in the cemetary of Ebenezer Methodist Church .

• Was the home destroyed by Hurricane Andrew?

This profile is a collaborative work-in-progress. Can you contribute information or sources?

Sources

1. ↑ First-hand information as remembered by Michelle Zealander, Thursday, April 30, 2015. Replace this citation if there is another source.

See also:

• Add sources here.