George Kemp, 1st Baron Rochdale, (9 June 1866 – 24 March 1945) was a British politician,

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...

, businessman and cricketer.

Education and business career

Kemp was born at Beechwood,

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, and educated at

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

and Mill Hill Schools.Published under Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Matriculating at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

, in 1883, aged 16, Kemp transferred to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, in 1884, where he graduated B.A. in the

Classical Tripos The Classical Tripos is the taught course in classics at the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge. It is equivalent to '' Literae Humaniores'' at Oxford University. It is traditionally a three-year degree, but for those who have not previ ...

in 1888. In business, Kemp went into the woollen industry eventually becoming Chairman of Kelsall & Kemp, flannel manufacturers.

Cricket

From 1885 to 1892, Kemp played first-class cricket for

and Cambridge University. A batsman, he scored three centuries all against Yorkshire - 109 in the Roses Match, at Huddersfield, in 1885 whilst still a teenager and 125 and 103 within 18 days of each other in 1886 at Fenner's and Sheffield respectively. While at Shrewsbury School he appeared in one county cricket match for

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

. He was also, at university, a

lawn tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

'Blue'.

Politics

In 1895, he was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Heywood as Liberal Unionist. He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to William Ellison-Macartney, Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty, until January 1900, when he resigned to serve in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

. In 1904, along with

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

, Kemp was among a group of Conservative and Liberal Unionist Free Traders who crossed the floor to join the Liberals in response to

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal Party (UK), Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually was a leading New Imperialism, imperial ...

's Tariff reform policies. In 1909, he was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

ed for his war services and at the January 1910 general election he was elected MP for Manchester North West, this time as a Liberal. Kemp found himself increasingly out of step with the actions of the Liberal government. He was opposed to the Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer Lloyd George's financial policies. He also opposed Lloyd George's advocacy of Welsh disestablishment. His long-standing opposition to Irish Home Rule had not diminished and he opposed the Liberal Government's Irish Home Rule bill. As he still felt out of step with the Unionist's advocacy of Tariff Reform, he decided to retire from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. He declared that he "loathed politics". A year later he was raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

as Baron Rochdale, of Rochdale in the County Palatine of Lancaster.

Military career

Kemp had been a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry since July 1891. In early February 1900, Kemp volunteered for active service in South Africa during the

. He was appointed a captain of the Imperial Yeomanry, in command of the 23rd company (the Yeomanry detachment of the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry), to serve as part of the 8th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry. His company left

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

on the ''SS Africa'' on 12 February, and arrived in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

the following month. For his service he was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

. He left again for South Africa in May 1902, as temporary lieutenant-colonel in command of the 32nd Battalion of the Imperial Yeomanry, including a machine-gun section which he had helped raise. The battalion arrived shortly after the war ended by the

Treaty of Vereeniging The Treaty of Vereeniging was a peace treaty, signed on 31 May 1902, that ended the Second Boer War between the South African Republic and the Orange Free State on the one side, and the United Kingdom on the other. This settlement provided ...

on 31 May 1902, and never saw any fighting. Kemp obtained leave to return home before his regiment, and left Cape Town on the in late September 1902, arriving at Southampton the following month. He relinquished his commission with the Imperial Yeomanry and was granted the honorary rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army on 12 October 1902. Called to war again in 1914, Lord Rochdale was Lieutenant-Colonel in command the 1st/6th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, part of 125th (1/1st Lancashire Fusiliers) Brigade, and was temporarily Brigadier-general of 127th (1/1st Manchester) Brigade of the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division during the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915.

Family

Kemp married, on 5 August 1896, Lady Beatrice Mary Egerton (1871–1966), third daughter of Francis Egerton, 3rd Earl of Ellesmere. Lady Beatrice Kemp joined her husband in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in early 1900. They had three children. Lord Rochdale died at Lingholm near Keswick,

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

in 1945, aged 88, and was succeeded by his eldest son, John.

Arms

References

*''Who was Who'', OUP 2007

External links

CricketArchive: George Kemp
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rochdale, George Kemp, 1st Baron 1866 births 1945 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath Kemp, Sir George Lord-lieutenants of Middlesex Kemp, George People educated at Shrewsbury School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Lancashire Fusiliers officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army generals of World War I English cricketers Lancashire cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Kemp, George Kemp, George Kemp, George Kemp, George UK MPs who were granted peerages Cricketers from Rochdale Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Imperial Yeomanry officers Military personnel from the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Married v Single cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry officers British sportsperson-politicians A. J. Webbe's XI cricketers Barons created by George V