Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 2.djvu/408

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Kemball
388
Kemble

ment and gallantry, and fully appreciated his kindness to the wounded. Wherever the fight was hottest he was on observation (The Times, 20 July 1878). The Russians were well aware of the veneration in which Kemball was held by the Turks, and like the Servians in the preceding campaign were under the mistaken impression that he was in command of the Turkish forces. After the battle of Zewin Duz on 16 June 1877 a determined effort was made to capture him. Cossack pursuers were only thrown off after an exciting chase of more than twenty miles, and Kemball by a daring swim across the Araxes river found shelter in a Turkish camp. He firmly protested against Kurdish atrocities, and at his insistence the Ottoman commander-in-chief took steps to suppress them.

At the close of the Russo-Turkish war Kemball was made K.C.B. and was promoted lieut.-general. The Sultan also bestowed on him the medal for the campaign. Recalled to England, Kemball was designated to be military adviser to Lord Beaconsfield's special mission to the Berlin congress, but his uncompromising objection to the cession of Batum to Russia led to the withdrawal of this offer, and he was not afterwards employed. At the close of the Russo-Turkish war he was entertained by the officers of the royal artillery at Woolwich.

Kemball took a keen interest in the construction of the then projected railway from Constantinople to the Persian Gulf, and was more or less intimately bound up with the Euphrates Valley railway scheme (see Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, June 1878). After his retirement from active service he was prominently associated with Sir William Mackinnon [q. V. Suppl. I] and others in the development of East Africa, and was one of the founders in 1888 and first chairman of the Imperial East African Company. To his prescience is mainly due the construction of the Uganda railway and the sovereignty of Great Britain over the East African Protectorate (see The Times, 20 Sept. 1892).

Kemball, who attained the rank of full general in Feb. 1880, died at his London residence, 62 Lowndes Square, Knightsbridge, on 21 Sept. 1908, and was buried in Kensal Green cemetery. He married in 1868 his cousin, Anna Frances, third daughter of Alexander Nesbitt Shaw of the Bombay civil service. His only daughter, Wynford Rose, married in 1902 Bentley Lyonel, third Baron Tollemache. A tablet to his memory has been erected in St. George's garrison church, Woolwich, by his widow. A cartoon by 'Ape' was reproduced in 'Vanity Fair' in 1878.

[The Times, 10 Jan. and 21 June 1878, 20 Sept. 1892, and 22 Sept. 1908; Illustrated London News, 21 July and 29 Sept. 1877; Journal Royal United Service Institution, June 1878; Sir F. Goldsmid, Life of Sir James Outram, 1880; G. W. Hunt's History of the Persian War; C. B. Norman's Armenia and the Campaign of 1877, 1878; C. Williams, The Armenian Campaign, 1878; Royal Artillery Institution Leaflets, Oct. 1908 and Feb. 1909; Amoris memoria, privately printed by Lady Kemball]

C. B. N.


KEMBLE, HENRY (1848–1907), actor, born in London on 1 June 1848, was son of Henry Kemble, captain of the 37th foot. Charles Kemble [q. v.] was his grandfather. He was educated by his aunt, Fanny Kemble [q. v. Suppl. I], at Bury St. Edmunds and King's College school, London. In 1865 he entered the privy council office, but devoted most of his time to amateur theatricals. Yielding to the hereditary bias, he made his professional debut on the stage at the Theatre Royal, Dublin, on 7 Oct. 1867, and for a year and a half remained a minor member of Harris's stock company there. Subsequently he acted old men and character parts at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Scarborough, and Newcastle-on-Tyne. On 29 Aug. 1874 he made his first appearance in London at Drury Lane, under Chatterton's management, as Tony Foster in a revival of 'Amy Robsart.' On 26 Sept. he was the original Philip of France in Halliday's 'Richard Coeur de Lion,' and later was favourably received as Dr. Caius in 'The Merry Wives of Windsor.' In 1875 he joined John Hare's company at the Court Theatre, and was seen to advantage as Dr. Penguin in 'A Scrap of Paper.' On 30 Sept. 1876 he appeared at the Prince of Wales's as Crossley Beck in 'Peril,' then beginning his long association and friendship with the Bancrofts. Among his later characters here were Dolly Spanker in 'London Assurance,' Sir Oliver Surface in 'The School for Scandal,' and Algie Fairfax in 'Diplomacy.' On 27 Sept. 1879 he was the original Mr. Trelawney Smith in 'Duty,' an adaptation by Albery from Sardou.

Following the Bancrofts to the Haymarket, Kemble appeared there on the opening night of their management (31 January 1880) as Mr. Stout in 'Money,' and subsequently played Dr. Sutcliffe in