KELLEY, Robert P. (1830-1910), an architect and builder of Yarmouth, N.S., is credited with the design of several buildings in that town. In early 1871 he submitted a design 'in the Romanesque style of architecture' for St John's Presbyterian Church, Cliff Street at Kirk Street, YARMOUTH, N.S., built 1873-76; demol. (S.H. Pelton, Historical Sketch of St. John's Presbyterian Church, Yarmouth, 1915, 17, 19). He also designed the Disney Methodist Chapel, East Street near Goudey Street, YARMOUTH, N.S., 1877; still standing in 2023. This church was executed in a picturesque Gothic style (J. Lawson, Yarmouth Past & Present, 1902, 535, 547). His last known work was the South End School, YARMOUTH, N.S., 1892-93 (Yarmouth Herald, 7 March 1893, 2, descrip.).
Kelley was born in Chebogue, Yarmouth County in 1830 and he was consistently listed in Census data as a carpenter who lived and worked in Yarmouth. He began to style himself as an architect after 1870 and he produced the exceptional and highly mannered Romanesque design for St. John's Presbyterian Church, Yarmouth in 1873. A photograph of this landmark was published in The Griffin (Halifax), xxxi, No. 2, June 2006, p. 13, a publication of the Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia (now online). Kelley died at Yarmouth on 6 June 1910 (Nova Scotia Register of Deaths, Yarmouth County, No. 592).