Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/481

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KEMBLE. 437 KEMBLE. b3- his elder brother's reputation. Among his best roles ere Jlercutio, Laertes, JIacduff. and Mira- bel. Macready's epigrammatic characterization of him is well known — 'A first-rate actor in sec- ond-rate parts.' He married in 1806 the actress Marie Ther6se De Camp. In 1832-34 he visited America with his daughter Fannj-, and made a great sensation. He retired from the stage in April, 18-10, and died November 12, 1854. Con- sult his daughter's Record of a Girlhood (London, 1878) ; Fit/gerald, The Kembles (London, 1871) ; Oxberry, Dramatic Bioyraphy (London, 1826); Lane (ed.), Charles Kemhlc's Shakespeare Read- inflsi (2d cd., London, 1879) ; Matthews, Actors and Actresses of Great liritain and the United States, vol. ii. (Xew York, 1886) ; Doran, Annals of the Stage (ed. by Lowe, London, 1888). KEMBLE, Elizabeth (1761-183G). An Eng- lish actress, daughter of Roger Kemble (q.v. ). She made her first appearance upon the stage in 1783 at Drury Lane Theatre, taking the part of Portia in The Merchant of Venice. She was mar- ried in 1785 to Mr. W hitlock, an actor, with whom in 1792 she came to the United States on a professional tour. Mrs. Whitlock attained a high degree of public favor, and had the honor of ap- pearing before President Washington at Phila- delphia. In 1807, after her return to England, she retired from the stage. KEMBLE, Fkances Anne ( Mrs. Fanny Kem- ble) (1809-93). An English actress and au- thor, born in London. November 27, 1809, daugh- ter of Cliarles Kemble. She was educated largely in I'rance, and made her first appearance on the stage October 5, 1829, in the character of Juliet, reviving the fortunes of the Covent Garden Thea- tre under her father's management. This was followed by a series of brilliant successes in Por- tia. Lady Teazle, and other parts, till she was compared with Mrs. Siddons, her famous aunt. Her crowning triumph was as .Julia in Sheridan Knowles's masterpiece. The Hunchhael:. written expressly for her. In 1832 she came to Xew York with her father, making her American debut as Bianca in Fazio, and exciting great enthusiasm. Two years later she married Pierce Butler of Philadelphia, and retired, living in that city and on the Butler estate in South Caro- lina. In 1S47 she had left her husband, and re- appeared on the English stage. She returned in 1849 to the United Stales, and having been di- vorced from Mr. Butler, resumed her maiden name, and went to reside in Lenox, Mass. Later, she gave public readings from Shakespeare and other dramatic authors in the principal cities of the United States and Great Britain, an occu- pation she much preferred to regular acting. She had a magnificent presence, her voice was flexible, ample, and harmonious, and her self- possession remarkable. During the War of the Rebellion she resided in England, and contrib- uted valuable articles to the London Times on the evils of slavery. Among her other works are: Francis the First, on Historical Drama (18.32) ; Journal of Frances Anne Butler (ISS.^i) ; Poems (1344) : A Year of Consolation (1847). descrip- tive of a tour to Italv; Journal of a Residence on a Georqian Plantation in 18SS-30 (1803) : Record of a Girlhood (1878-70) : Records of Later Life (1882) : Xotes Upon Some of Shnk-espeare's Plai/s (1882) ; Poems (1SS3) : FarAuai/ and Long Aqo. a storv' (1889): Further ffecords (1891). Her death occurred in London. January 15. 1893. Consult, besides the autobiographical works men- tioned above: The Letters of Edward FitzGerald to Fanny Kemhle (London, 1895) ; Parton, in Eminent Women of the Aye (Hartford, Conn., 1869). KEMBLE, Geobge Stephen (I758-I822). An English actor, the second son of Roger Kemble (q.v.) ; born at Kington, Herefordshire. He was intended, it is said, for the medical profession, but showed the family preference for the stage, and, after practicing in the coimtry, appeared at Covent Garden in 1784 as Othello, his wife, Elizabeth Satehell, being Desdemona. He was engaged also at the Haymarket, and afterwards managed theatres in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and several smaller cities. His extreme stoutness, in the latter part of his life, enabled him to play his favorite rOle of Falstaff without artificial padding. Consult Oxberrv, Dramatic Biography (London, 1826). KEMBLE, GouvEBNEDE (1786-1875). An American manufacturer, born in Xew York City. He graduated at Columbia in 1803; traveled ex- tensively in Europe during the Xapoleonic wars; was United States Consul at Cadiz under Presi- dent Monroe ; and was engaged in procuring sup- jjlies for the American squadron at the time of the war with Algiers in 1815. In 1817 he established the ^'■est Point foundry at Cold Springs. He was a Democratic member of Con- gress from 1857 to 1841, and was a member of the State Constitutional Convention of 1846. He was an intimate friend of Washington Irving, and liis house at Xewark, X. J., was the Cockloft Hall of Salmagundi. KEMBLE, John Mitchell (1807-57). An English historian and philologist, the son of Charles Kemble, the actor, and the brother of Fanny Kemble. He was bom in London, Eng- land, received his preliminary education at Clap- ham and at the Bury Saint Edmunds Grammar School, and in 1826 entered Trinity College, Cam- bridge, where he became an intimate friend of Tennyson, Archbishop Trench, and William B. Donne. He wa.s brilliant, but erratic in his studies, and before he had completed his course entered the Inner Temple for the study of Anglo- Saxon law, in which he had become interested. He failed in 1829 to satisfy the examiners of his proficiency in philosophy, and his degree was 'deferred,' but after a period of study in Ger- many, where he began his researches in Germanic philology', he was granted his A.B. in 1830, and proceeded to his M.A. in 1833. About this time he became associated with Trench and others in a plan to aid Torrijos in his revolt against Ferdi- nand VII. of Spain, and sailed to Gibraltar, but the scheme was abandoned, and he returned to Germany to continue his philological studies with Jacob Grimm at Gottingen, and at other uni- versities. An edition of Beouulf, published in 1833, gave him high rank as an Anglo-Saxon scholar. A course of independent lectures on Anglo-Saxon language and literature given at Cambridge in 1834 increased his reputation. From 1835 to 1844 he was editor of the British and Fo'-eiyn Rericir. In February. 1840. he was appointed Licenser of Stage Plays in succession to his father. Charles Kemble. and retained the oflfice until his death. In 1830-40 he published his valuable collection of charters of the Anglo- Saxon period under the title of Codex Diplomati-