Researching William Kelley
Research the background of William Kelley using the links below. We hope you find this information useful!
![]() | Did you know that in the 1881 UK census there were 3479 people with the Kelley surname? In that year Kelley was ranked number 1206 for popularity in the UK. |

The name William means "resolute guardian" and is of German origin.
Records of William Kelley on Ancestry
Ancestry is a major source of information if you are filling out the detail of William Kelley in your family tree. With over 30 billion records and 100 million family trees to search, Ancestry is one of the key websites to visit to help you trace your family tree back in time. Free trials are normally available and are a good way to fill out a lot of your tree quickly.
| Country Collection | |
|---|---|
![]() |
Ancestry.com Global records search results for William Kelley. |
![]() |
Ancestry.com US records search results for William Kelley. |
![]() |
Ancestry.co.uk UK records search results for William Kelley. |
![]() |
Ancestry.ca Canadian records search results for William Kelley. |
![]() |
Ancestry.com.au Australian records search results for William Kelley. |
DNA
Sometimes you can run into a brick wall in your tree and you just don't have enough evidence to make that next step back in time. If you are lucky then you may find some previously undiscovered Kelley ancestors. Additionally, the modern DNA test can give you a breakdown of your ethnic mix - you may be surprised at the results!
Have you reached a brick wall in your Kelley Tree?
Birth, Death and Marriage Records for William Kelley and the Kelley Family History
Birth, Death and Marriage records are often the best method of making the links to the Kelley Genealogy that will form part of your family tree. Although records vary from country to country, they are normally the most formal record of a person's relations. From the sources below you will be able to find a birth record and, from that, a birth certificate can be ordered which lists the names of the mother and father, taking you back another generation in your tree. A marriage certificate may also list the names of the respective fathers of the bride and groom which may then help you to find them earlier in life on a census record enabling you to fill out more detail in the Kelley family tree.
Search Parish Records for William Kelley at Find My Past.
Study for the UK registered births, marriages and deaths of William Kelley using the FreeBMD database.
Investigate Genealogy Bank for William Kelley records.
Investigate MyHeritage for William Kelley information.
Search the LDS Database for records about William Kelley.
Research the Kelley surname using fold3 Military Archives and view images of original Kelley Military records.
![]() | Did you know that there are currently 1791 people with the Kelley surname in the UK? Kelley is now ranked number 2479 for popularity in the UK. |
Kelley Family Tree Databases
Another way to build your tree quickly is to use the research other people have already done. This can help to confirm or refute your own deductions - however, be wary of taking this data at face value as other researchers may not have been as meticulous as you. Always try to back up deductions with some definitive sources rather than relying too heavily on others.
Explore the WikiTree database for user contributed records for William Kelley.
Study MyTrees for information on the Kelley family and people looking to contact living Kelley relations.
Investigate One Great Family for Kelley records submitted by people who are already researching the Kelley Family Tree.
Find William Kelley from Ireland on findmypast.ie
Kelley Forums
There are a number of forums which are dedicated to rearching particular surnames. These can be good places to share your findings and also to tap into the knowledge that others may already have. These can sometimes be a good way of finding living relations as these tend not to show up on the other sources of information for privacy reasons.
Research the Kelley surname using Genealogy.com forums .
![]() | Did you know that there are currently 157989 people with the Kelley surname in the USA? Kelley is ranked number 105 for popularity in the USA. |
Miscellaneous Kelley Databases
Look at the Ellis Island Database for information on William Kelley. This database contains over 25 million immigration records detailing passengers arriving in the United States of America.
Some Famous People called William Kelley
William Donald Kelley
William Donald Kelley (November 1, 1925 – January 30, 2005) was an American orthodontist who developed "non-specific metabolic therapy," an alternative cancer treatment, now known to be ineffective, which he based on the unsubstantiated belief that "wrong foods [cause] malignancy to grow, while proper foods [allow] natural body defenses to work."
Kelley received no training in oncology; according to Quackwatch, his ideas are "largely speculative and invalid." His therapy is not only ineffective, Quackwatch notes, but also causes people with cancer who take it to die more quickly and have a worse quality of life than those who receive standard treatment, and they can suffer side effects that are serious at the very least and can even actively cause their deaths.
Source: William Donald Kelley, Wikipedia, The Free EncyclopediaWilliam Melvin Kelley
William Melvin Kelley (November 1, 1937 – February 1, 2017) was an African-American novelist and short-story writer. He is perhaps best known for his debut novel, A Different Drummer, published in 1962. He was also a university professor and creative writing instructor. In 2008, he received the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Lifetime Achievement. Kelley is credited with being the first to commit the term "woke" to print, in the title of a 1962 New York Times op-ed on the use of African-American slang by beatniks: If You're Woke, You Dig It.
Source: William Melvin Kelley, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Other names that sound a bit like Kelley
Family names can get corrupted over time, particularly where literacy was not as good. The following list contains some names that have similar sounds so you may want to also look at one or two of the more likely possibilites.
Kael Kahl Kahle Kahley Kail Kaillewey Kalaway Kale Kalewaye Kalewe Kaley Kall Kallio Kalwe Kaul Kayl Kayley Keal Kealey Kealy Keel Keele Keeley Keely Keheley Kehl Keighley Keighly Keil Keiley Keill Keilloh Keilway Keilwaye Keily Kell Kellaway Kellawaye Kelle Kelleway Kellie Kellough Kellow Kelloway Kelly Keloway Kelway Kewley Kiehl Kiel Kiely Kighly Kile Kiley Kill Killay Kille Killey Killough Kiloh Kiloway Kilway Kiol Klaw Klawi Klay Klayh Klee Kleh Klewi Kley Kleyh Kloy Klue Klugh Koehl Koelle Kohl Kohle Kohley Kohli Koihl Kole Koll Kolle Kolley Kool Koole Kowal Koyl Kuehl Kuhl Kuhle Kula Kull Kulla Kwalo Kyle Kylloe





Comments
Looking for information on a William Kelley in your family tree? Why not post a question here -