Percy Kelly

Robert Percy Kelly (1918–1993, known from 1985 to 1992 as Roberta Penelope Kelly) was an English artist, footballer, postal worker, and cross-dresser from Cumberland. He is known for his drawings and paintings depicting industrial coastal landscapes in decay, which he hoarded during his lifetime. Of his own drawings, he wrote: "They are so important to me I could never sell them".

Early life Kelly was born in Workington in 1918. He was a twin, and one of seven children of Oscar, a carpenter from the Isle of Man and Martha, from Scotland; they shared a home with Martha's father Hugh. He attended Workington's Central Secondary School and worked for the General Post Office as a telegraph messenger boy from 1932 to 1939 before serving in the Royal Corps of Signals from 1939 to 1946. He worked for the Post Office again after the war, becoming sub-postmaster at Great Broughton from 1952 to 1958 which is now commemorated with a plaque. In the mid-1950s, he played football for Workington under Bill Shankly. In 1958, he moved to Allonby. In 1963, his watercolours went on display at the National Gallery in London. While he was alive, he held only five exhibitions, with most of his artwork marked NFS as not for sale. and Abbot Hall Art Gallery in Kendal.