Margaret Kemble Gage (1734–1824) was the wife of General

Thomas Gage General Thomas Gage (10 March 1718/192 April 1787) was a British Army general officer and colonial official best known for his many years of service in North America, including his role as British commander-in-chief in the early days of th ...

, who led the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in Massachusetts in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. She was born in

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

Province of New Jersey The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial America and became the U.S. state of New Jersey in 1783. The province had originally been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherland but came under English rule after t ...

and resided in East Brunswick Township. She died in England in 1824. Gage is a gateway ancestor to centuries of English nobility who have Dutch and

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

ancestry from what was once

New Netherlands New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva P ...

and later the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th cent ...

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestow ...

Family life and descendants

Margaret Kemble was the daughter of Peter Kemble, a well-to-do New Jersey businessman and politician, and Gertrude Bayard; the granddaughter of Judge

Samuel Bayard Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Vetch Bayard (born 1757, New York – d. 28 May 1832 Wilmot, Nova Scotia) was a Loyalist military officer in the American Revolution who served in the King's Orange Rangers (KOR). He is the son of William Bayard who fo ...

(b. 1669) and Margaretta Van Cortlandt (b. 1674); and the great-granddaughter of Mayor of New York City

Stephanus Van Cortlandt Stephanus van Cortlandt (May 7, 1643 – November 25, 1700) was the first native-born mayor of New York City, a position which he held from 1677 to 1678 and from 1686 to 1688. He was the patroon of Van Cortlandt Manor and was on the governor' ...

and Gertrude Schuyler. She married Thomas Gage on December 8, 1758, at her father's 1200-acre Mount Kemble Plantation in New Jersey (where years later generals

William Smallwood William Smallwood (1732February 14, 1792) was an American planter, soldier and politician from Charles County, Maryland. He served in the American Revolutionary War, rising to the rank of major general. He was serving as the fourth Governor ...

and

Anthony Wayne Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745 – December 15, 1796) was an American soldier, officer, statesman, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his mil ...

were quartered in his modest wood-framed mansion,''Glen Alpin: A Brief History''
, The Glen Alpin Conservancy, accessed June 2017. while the Continental Army encamped at

Jockey Hollow Jockey Hollow is the name for an area in southern Morris County, New Jersey farmed in the 18th century by the Wick, Guerin and Kemble families. The origin of the name is still uncertain, but was used as such at the time of the American Revolution ...

during the brutal winter of 1779–80). Following the outbreak of the American Revolution, Margaret Kemble Gage sailed from Boston to England in the summer of 1776 on a ship carrying military widows, orphans and 170 soldiers who were badly wounded in the Battle of Bunker Hill. She was joined by her husband a few months later, who was recalled after the failure of his attempts to resolve divisions with the colonists either by reconciliation or military action. Together with their children, the couple settled in a Portland Place address in London. Margaret was to outlive Thomas Gage by 36 years. The couple had eleven children, and their first son, the future 3rd Viscount Gage, was born in 1761. Gage's daughter, Charlotte Margaret Gage, married Admiral

Sir Charles Ogle ''Sir Charles Ogle'' was a ferry that operated from 1830 until 1894 for the Halifax-Dartmouth Ferry Service. The ferry was the first steamship built in Nova Scotia and the longest serving ferry in Halifax Harbour. The ship is named for Royal Na ...

. Descendants of Kemble Gage include: * Lieutenant General Sir John Paul Foley (1939) retired British general *

Henry Hodgetts-Foley Henry John Wentworth Hodgetts-Foley of Prestwood House, then in Kingswinford parish (9 December 1828 – 23 April 1894) was a British MP. He was the son of John Hodgetts Hodgetts-Foley''Burke's Peerage 2003'', page 1448 and a descendant of Ge ...

(1828–1894) former member of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

Montagu Bertie, 6th Earl of Abingdon Montagu Bertie, 6th Earl of Abingdon (19 June 1808 – 8 February 1884) was a British peer and politician. He was styled Lord Norreys from birth until acceding in 1854. Background Born at Dover Street, he was the eldest son of Montagu Bertie, ...

(1808–1884)

British peer The peerages in the United Kingdom are a legal system comprising both hereditary and lifetime titles, composed of various noble ranks, and forming a constituent part of the British honours system. The term '' peerage'' can be used both coll ...

and politician *

John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort Field Marshal John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, (10 July 1886 – 31 March 1946) was a senior British Army officer. As a young officer during the First World War, he was decorated with the Victoria Cross for his actio ...

(1886–1946) British military officer and commander of the British Expeditionary Forces in Europe during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

up to the

Battle of Dunkirk The Battle of Dunkirk (french: Bataille de Dunkerque, link=no) was fought around the French port of Dunkirk (Dunkerque) during the Second World War, between the Allies and Nazi Germany. As the Allies were losing the Battle of France on t ...

. *

Gabriella Wilde Gabriella Zanna Vanessa Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe (born 8 April 1989), known professionally as Gabriella Wilde or Gabriella Calthorpe, is an English actress and model. She has appeared in the films '' St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Go ...

(1989–) British model and actress Her brother, Stephen Kemble, was a lieutenant-colonel in the British Army during the Revolution. She was portrayed by

Emily Berrington Emily Berrington (born 7 December 1985) is an English actress who played Simone Al-Harazi in '' 24: Live Another Day'' (2014) and Niska in the Channel 4 and AMC TV series ''Humans'' (2015–2018). Early life Berrington's parents were social wor ...

in the television miniseries ''

Sons of Liberty The Sons of Liberty was a loosely organized, clandestine, sometimes violent, political organization active in the Thirteen American Colonies founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It pl ...

''.

Role in American Revolution

Some historians feel that Margaret Kemble Gage may have been instrumental in causing the first shots to be fired in the American Revolution (the

Battle of Lexington and Concord The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, ...

).Fischer, David Hackett. ''Paul Revere's Ride'', pp. 95–97, Oxford University Press, New York, New York, 1994.Nelson, James L. ''With Fire & Sword: The Battle of Bunker Hill and the Beginning of the American Revolution'', p. 27, Thomas Dunne Books, New York, New York, 2011. In the days leading up to the battle, the

could see that the British troops in Boston were preparing for something. Dr.

Joseph Warren Joseph Warren (June 11, 1741 – June 17, 1775), a Founding Father of the United States, was an American physician who was one of the most important figures in the Patriot movement in Boston during the early days of the American Revolution, ...

, one of the key leaders of the Sons of Liberty, had a confidential informer, who was well-connected to the British high command. This informer was intended for only the most important matters. The secret informant provided "intelligence of their whole design...to arrest

Samuel Adams Samuel Adams ( – October 2, 1803) was an American statesman, political philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in colonial Massachusetts, a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, an ...

and

John Hancock John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of t ...

, who were known to be at Lexington, and burn the colonists' military stores at Concord."Borneman, Walter R. ''American Spring: Lexington, Concord, and the Road to Revolution'', pp. 127–9, Little, Brown & Company, New York, New York, 2015. Thomas Gage had hoped to prevent a war. He had planned a secret night march, hoping to move Adams and Hancock elsewhere, as well as the colonial powder and cannon, while the colonists slept. Instead, Warren, after learning of the plan, dispatched

Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, Sons of Liberty member, and Patriot and Founding Father. He is best known for his midnight ride to a ...

and

William Dawes William Dawes Jr. (April 6, 1745 – February 25, 1799) was one of several men who in April 1775 alerted colonial minutemen in Massachusetts of the approach of British army troops prior to the Battles of Lexington and Concord at the outset ...

, who set off a chain reaction of alarm riders all across Massachusetts and even to adjoining colonies. Instead of a quiet night mission, the British troops found themselves opposed by thousands of wide-awake, angry, armed colonists. By the end of the day, the British troops were under heavy fire by irate patriots. If Gage had not later sent out an additional 1,000 units, with cannons, the original British force would have never made it back to Boston. It is not known who Warren's secret source was. He kept his secret and was killed two months later at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The evidence is slim and circumstantial, but many historians feel that the leading suspect is Margaret Kemble Gage. She was an American, and came from a very prestigious, wealthy family. Her social standing was equal to that of her husband. Gen. Gage's officers called her "Dutchess". She did not make a secret of her divided loyalties and said that "she hoped her husband would never be the instrument of sacrificing the lives of her countrymen".

Barratt, Carrie Rebora Carrie Rebora Barratt is an American art historian specializing in museum administration and collaborative nonprofit leadership. She has worked in this domain in New York City since the 1980s. Barratt was Curator of American Paintings and Sculptu ...

. ''John Singleton Copley and Margaret Kemble Gage,'' pp. 6, 8, Putnam Foundation, San Diego, California, 1998. Gen. Gage stated that he had only told two people of the plan, which was to be kept a "profound secret": his second-in-command, and one other person. Some of the other top British officers suspected that that other person was Gen. Gage's wife. Prior to this, Gen. Gage had been devoted to his wife, but after the unexpected engagements at Lexington and Concord, he ordered her away from him, and put her on a ship back to England.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gage, Margaret Kemble Women in the American Revolution People of colonial New Jersey People from East Brunswick, New Jersey People from New Brunswick, New Jersey People of New Jersey in the American Revolution Schuyler family 1734 births 1824 deaths American people of Dutch descent Huguenot participants in the American Revolution American spies during the American Revolution

Family life and descendants

Role in American Revolution

See also

References

Sources