Roger Keith Kelsall was born at Milngavie in Scotland on 23 January 1910, the son of a Scottish civil engineer and his English wife.
He attended Kelvinside Academy, then the University of Glasgow where he studied history and political economy.
In 1951, Kelsall was involved in the establishment of the British Sociological Association; in 1956, he joined the University of Sheffield as head of the School of Social Studies, which then ran non-graduate social studies programmes.
After many years of service to the British Sociological Association (including as chairman from 1964 to 1966), Kelsall became its president, serving from 1977 to 1979.
Kelsall died on 1 May 1996; since 1934, he had been married to the educationalist Helen (née Lightbody), with whom he had a son and co-authored a number of books.