Malachy Cornwell Kelly (1947-2024)
“He was a man whose journey was shaped by the intricate threads of history and the richness of family legacy”
from Kings College, LondonClick Image
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The Society was delighted that Malachy agreed to use his retirement in Tewkesbury to be our Secretary. He was making a significant impression when illness deprived us of his undoubted talent.
Malachy was born in 1947 to parents who met at the local golf club; the coincidence was that both their fathers had served as officers in the Royal Irish Constabulary, the police force in pre-revolutionary Ireland. They were forced to leave after the 1921 Anglo-Irish Peace Treaty and were resettled by the Home Office for their own safety in Chelmsford, England.
Malachy had a happy childhood in Essex, infused with the resilience and fortitude of his parents’ experience. He was an only child and attended Downside and Worth boarding schools, after which he read law at Kings College, London, where the seeds of his legal acumen were sown. After graduating, he served articles with a City firm with which his father, an auditor, had connections.
In the early 1970s, he met Heather while working on a legal dispute involving the two Civil Service departments that they represented. The dispute moved on to Luxembourg, where their bosses teamed up to bring Malachy Kelly and Heather Cornwell together – over the wonderful food and wine! They married in 1976 - and created a new family name from their two surnames to support Heather’s career as a barrister. Four years later Deborah was born.
Deborah remembers him as an amazing father who gifted her his deep love of culture and an incredible soft spot for animals. She will forever remember him with his papers, dog curled up at his side.
During those years, Malachy served first in what was then the legal section of Customs and Excise, followed by a spell in private practice. He then spent five years as research secretary of the Law Committee at the Law Society, followed by another five years as director of investigations for the Parliamentary Ombudsman in London.
From 1992 until 2001, he worked at a top City law firm as tax partner specialising in cross-border VAT – during which time he co-authored a textbook on EU law. Throughout this time, he also sat as chairman of a tax appeal tribunal in the UK.
the early 1990s: informally
but in Legal AttireClick Image
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In 2001 he chose to take up an opportunity in the Isle of Man, where he served as Clerk of the Tynwald, the island’s ancient parliament, for seven years, after which he spent a year setting up the office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The combination of a quiet pragmatism and a sturdy independence in the island appealed to him very much, and Malachy saw his time in the island as the most rewarding of his career.
Malachy became a strong believer in the 90s while working in the City and took an active part in the life of the churches he attended. Returning to England from the Isle of Man, he became a Reader in the Church of England, there and in Chevening, close to his home in Sevenoaks.
At the end of their careers, Malachy and Heather chose to retire to this beautiful town of Tewkesbury, where he loved studying the local history, boating on the river, and taking part in local life. He will be remembered by the town for his absolute integrity and old-fashioned courtesy.
This is where the Society had a wonderful surprise when he volunteered to become our Secretary.
He, perhaps inevitably wrote elegant minutes, and we were benefitting from his legal advice where it was needed. So far, his role has proved, literally, very difficult to fill but we cherish his memory.
THS can only agree with Deborah: “He was a man whose journey was shaped by the intricate threads of history and the richness of family legacy”.