John Kemble (martyr)

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John Kemble was an English Roman Catholic martyr. Born in 1599, in Herefordshire, he was executed at Widemarsh Common, Hereford, on 22 August 1679. He was one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

1 Early years and ordination
2 Pastoral work
3 Titus Oates' plot
4 Arrest and execution
5 Sainthood
6 Descendants
7 Asides
8 Dates
9 Notes
10 External links
11 Sources

[edit] Early years and ordination

John Kemble was born at Rhydicar Farm, St. Weonard's, Herefordshire, in 1599. He was the son of John and Anne Kemble, the daughter of John Morgan, of the Waen, Skenfrith, Monmouthshire.

They were a prominent local Catholic family. There were four other priests in the family.

Kemble was ordained a priest at Douai College, on 23 February 1625. He returned to England on 4 June 1625 as a missioner in Monmouthshire and Herefordshire.

[edit] Pastoral work

Little is known of his work caring for the sustenance of his flock for the next fifty three years. The conditions for Catholics had eased from the ferocious persecution of the Elizabethan period, but the priest performed his ministry discreetly. What we can deduce from his later treatment was the esteem and affection he was held in locally.

[edit] Titus Oates' plot

The uneasy tolerance within which Father Kemble had operated was shattered by Titus Oates' plot in 1678.

The events leading up to the arrest of Father Kemble need to be seen against the backdrop of the plot. Titus Oates was a perjurer who concocted a plot in which the Anglican^[1] King Charles the Second would be assassinated and his Catholic brother (later, King James the Second) installed as king in his place.

In the febrile atmosphere in the country the plot was believed. As soon as Oates' story was examined in detail the whole story evaporated, but by then the damage had been done. Among the many Catholics caught up in the frenzy was Father John Kemble.

[edit] Arrest and execution

Father Kemble was staying at his brother's home, Pembridge Castle, near Welsh Newton, when he was arrested. He was warned about the impending arrest but declined to leave his flock, saying, "According to the course of nature, I have but a few years to live. It will be an advantage to suffer for my religion and, therefore, I will not abscond."

He was arrested by a Captain John Scudamore of Kentchurch. It is a comment on the tangled loyalties of the age that Scudamore's own wife and children were parishioners of Father Kemble.

Father Kemble, now 80, was taken on the arduous journey to London to be interviewed about the plot. He was found to have had no connection with the concoction, but was found guilty of the treasonous crime of being a priest. He was sentenced to death, with the punishment for this being hanged, drawn and quartered.

He was returned to Hereford for the sentence to be carried out. Before he was led out for his execution Father Kemble insisted on saying his prayers and finishing his drink, and the assembled party joined the elderly priest in a smoke and a drink. To this day the sayings, "Kemble pipe", and "Kemble cup", meaning a parting pipe or cup, are used in Herefordshire.

Before his death Father Kemble addressed the assembled crowd, pointing out that no connection with the plot had been established. The old priest went on to say, "…the failure of the authorities in London to connect me to the plot makes it evident that I die only for profession the Roman Catholic religion, which was the religion that first made this Kingdom Christian."

Grave of John Kemble (photo by Philip Halling)

Rather than impose the unspeakable cruelties involved in the hanging, drawing and quartering, Kemble was allowed to die on the gallows before the butchery was carried out on his body. Thus he was spared the agonies suffered by so many of the Catholic martyrs.

One of the martyr's hands is preserved at St. Francis Xavier, Hereford. His body rests in the (Church of England) churchyard of St Mary's, Welsh Newton, and local Roman Catholics make an annual pilgrimage to his grave.

[edit] Sainthood

Miracles were soon attributed to the saintly priest. Scudamore's daughter was cured of throat cancer, while Scudamore's wife recovered her hearing whilst praying at the Kemble's grave.

John Kemble was beatified in 1929 by Pope Pius XI and canonized on 25 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI. His feast day is August 22.

[edit] Descendants

Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse by Sir Joshua Reynolds (The Huntington, San Marino, California)

The famous Kemble family are direct descendants of John Kemble. The family became almost a 'Royal Family' of the English stage in the nineteenth century. The most famous was Sarah Siddons, née Kemble. It has been said that she was the finest English tragic actress ever. She was a great-great grandniece of the Saint.

Other noteworthy members of the family were: Roger Kemble, John Philip Kemble who spent some time at the Catholic College in Douai, Stephen Kemble, Charles Kemble, John Mitchell Kemble, Frances Anne Kemble who after spending time in the United States held strong anti slavery opinions, Adelaide Kemble and Henry Kemble.

[edit] Asides

His uncle, George Kemble, of Pembridge Castle, Welsh Newton, was the father of Captain Richard Kemble, who saved Charles II (the reigning King at the time of John Kemble's death) at the battle of Worcester.