Kelly was born in Bridge of Allan, Perthshire, in 1912 the last of five children to his Scottish headmaster father, John Davidson Kelly, and Ann his English mother.
She and her brother John Norman Davidson Kelly[1] were home-schooled by her father, although one source says it was a small school.
[3] In 1934 Kelly gained a master's degree in history from the University of Glasgow and three years later she was qualified by the Institute of Hospital Almoners.
In 1951 she began nineteen years as the head almoner of King's College Hospital.
[1] Kelly moved forward partnering the London School of Economics in providing courses.