Kemble, Stephen, 1740-1829

Stephen Kemble was born in 1740 in New Brunswick, N.J., the fourth son and fifth child of Peter Kemble and his first wife, Gertrude Bayard. The Kemble family were related to several of the most influential and politically powerful New York families of the colonial period, including the van Cortlandts, Bayards, and Stuyvesants. Like many of their station, the Kemble family remained staunchly loyal to the British cause throughout the Revolution.

After attending school at the College in Philadelphia, Stephen Kemble accepted an ensign's commission in the 44th Regiment of Foot at the age of 17. Under Lord Howe, he participated on the campaign that resulted in the repulse of Fort Ticonderoga, and on 24 January 1765, he was transferred to the captaincy of the First Battalion of the 60th (Royal American) Regiment. His rise through the ranks of the British army was no doubt facilitated by his close personal relationship with Thomas Gage, the commander-in-chief of British forces in North America, who had married Kemble's sister, Margaret in 1758.

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