Author: Kemble, Stephen George
Biography:
KEMBLE, Stephen George (1758-1822: ODNB)
He was born at Kington, Hertfordshire, to Roger Kemble and Sarah (Ward) Kemble. His grandfather, John Ward, was a theatre manager and both of his parents were performers. He received little formal education and was apprenticed to a chemist at Coventry when he was fourteen; however, he quickly abandoned this for the theatre. Through a long and varied career, he performed in London, Edinburgh, and the provinces with his wife, Elizabeth Satchell, an actor whom he married in 1783. He began managing theatres from 1790—by which time the Kembles had two children. Having leased theatres in Glasgow and Edinburgh (not without conflict with John Jackson [q.v.], previous manager of the Edinburgh theatre), he expanded to other northern cities before being compelled to retreat to London in about 1802 when he returned to acting at Drury Lane. Thereafter, he alternated between acting and managing. He died at Durham and was buried in the cathedral. Odes is his only book of verse; it contains poems written over a number of years and the preface states that some had previously seen publication in periodicals. (ODNB 24 Feb 2020) SR