Frances Anne Kemble

Frances Anne Kemble (Fanny): (November 27, 1809 - January 15, 1893). Elder daughter of Charles, an actor manager, and Maria Theresa De Camp, an actress. She was the niece of two of the leading lights of the British stage; John Philip Kemble and his sister Sarah Siddons.

Sister: Adelaide Kemble.

Fanny was born in London, but educated mostly in France.

Fanny first appeared on the stage in 1829 as Juliet at Covent Garden. In 1832 she went to America with her father, and in 1834 she married Pierce Butler a Southern planter who became the largest slave owner in America. However, the marriage did not last. In 1847 Fanny returned to the stage giving readings from Shakespear. Longfellow attended one of these readings and wrote the poem The Seaside and the Fireside

Fanny and Pierce were divorced in 1849. Under the terms of the divorce Fanny was allowed to spend two months every summer with her children, Sarah (b.1835) and Fanny (b.1838). In 1861 the American civil war began splitting the family yet again. Fanny Kemble and Sarah were pro-North, Pierce Butler and Frances were pro-South. Pierce and Frances moved to Georgia for the duration.

Frances’ 1863 journal dealing with the ill treatment of salves on her husband’s Georgia plantation is said to have influenced British opinion in the America Civil war. Britain would have preferred a secessionist South to succeed, but was not prepared to support slavery.

Her works include

• Francis the First, ( a play, 1832).
• The Star of Seville (another play, 1837).
• A volume of Poems (1844).
• A book of Italian travel.
• A Year of Consolation (1847).
• Volume of her Journal (1835).
• 1863 another (dealing with life on the Georgia plantation).
• Volume of Plays, including translations from Dumas and Schiller.
• Records of a Girlhood (1878).
• Records of Later Life (1882).
• Notes on some of Shakespear’s Plays (1882).
• Far Away and Long Ago (1889).
• Further Records (1891).
• Possibly volumes of poems in 1866 and 1883

In 1849 Fanny was the first person of note to wear what later were called bloomers. Regrettably no photograph of her wearing these garments is at hand.

There is also one solitary claim on the Web, that Fanny Kemble, the great actress was also a noted lesbian.

Fanny’s poetry includes:

• Lament of a Mocking-Bird
• The Petition
• Absence