Joseph "Bunko" Kelly was an English hotelier of the 19th century who kidnapped men and sold them to work on ships.

[1] Kelly, later called "The King of the Crimps", received his "Bunko" nickname in 1885[note 1] by providing a crewman that turned out to be a cigar store Indian.

[2][3] In one infamous deal in 1893,[4] he delivered 22[note 2] men who had mistakenly consumed embalming fluid from the open cellar of a mortuary.

He sold all the men, most of whom were dead, to a captain who sailed before the truth was discovered.

Afterwards, he wrote a book entitled Thirteen Years In The Oregon Penitentiary, about the conditions there.