Born in London in December 1871, Kelsey was the son of a schoolmaster. His primary training was in dentistry, and his subsequent dental practice was located in Bristol.

Kelsey was a friend of Samuel John Lamorna BIRCH and also became a patron, trading dental work for paintings in Bristol. His wife Edith and their daughter Dorothy, along with Kelsey, invited Birch to stay with them when he was on one of his periodic 'sales trips'. Kelsey also asked Birch for lessons, and introduced him to other purchasers.

The description of their relationship is included in Wormleighton A Painter Laureate, and is briefly referred to in Painting at the Edge as being in the circle of painters around Birch, as Kelsey was invited to visit in Lamorna for further lessons after beginning these with Birch in Bristol. In the ArtPrice records (with inclusive dates 1870-1960), all of the paintings (30) noticed were views of France, starting in approximately 1929 and continuing throughout the '30s. All were drawings and watercolours, described as pastel on paper, and began to sell about 1994.