Text from the book: 'The Presiding Officers of the Parliament of New South Wales', Sydney, 1995 Lawrence Kelly was born on 5 November 1928 at Thirroul. His father, Lawrence Borthwick Kelly Senior was the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Bulli from 1947 until his death in 1955. He married Rhonda Ali on 23 October 1954. They had one son and one daughter. He became an accountant with a public transport company in Wollongong and joined the Labor Party in 1948. He became a branch secretary and held executive positions on state and federal electoral councils. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly as the Member for Corrimal in 1968; and was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in 1976 holding this office until his retirement at the 1988 State Elections. During his Speakership the new Parliament House building was constructed; and these years also saw an increase in the complexity and size of the Parliamentary administration. Electorate description: Residential suburban, industrial and semi-rural. Located within Illawarra Statistical Agricultural Sub-Division. Principal suburbs: Bellambi, Corrimal, Fairy Meadow, Keiraville, Towradgi.