Author: Kemble, Frances Ann
Biography:
Kemble, Frances Anne (1809-93: ODNB)
She is "Frances Ann" on the title-pages of her play, "Frances Anne" in the biographical record; she was generally known as "Fanny." Though born into one of the most famous of all theatrical families, she was never a child actor or a prodigy, but was educated in French and British schools and was expected to become a governess. Her parents (both actors) were Charles and Maria Theresa (De Camp) Kemble, her uncle was John Philip Kemble, and her aunt was Sarah Siddons. Her father was also the manager of Covent Garden Theatre. In 1829, when the theatre was threatened with bankruptcy, he put his daughter on the stage, where she was a great success. The two of them toured in the provinces and then embarked on a two-year tour of North America. There Fanny met and in 1834 married Pierce Butler, heir to plantations in North Carolina and Georgia. She retired from the stage. They had two daughters together. Fanny was repelled by the experience of plantation life and by her husband's infidelities, so in 1845 they officially separated and in 1849 were divorced. Fanny resumed her maiden name and divided her time between England and north-eastern America. She also returned to the stage and made a new career for herself giving public readings of Shakespeare until her retirement in 1863. As a writer, she produced a few more plays, original or in translation, and a volume of poems in 1863, but is best known now for her journals and memoirs, especially her Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838 to 1839 (New York, 1863). She died in the London home of her daughter Frances and is buried in Kensal Green cemetery. (ODNB 6 July 2019; Todd 2)
Other Names:
- Frances Ann Kemble