Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Kelly, Edward" to "Kite" by Various
1454. He was buried at Canterbury, in the choir. Kempe was a politician
4020 words | Chapter 4
first, and hardly at all a bishop; and he was accused with some justice
of neglecting his dioceses, especially at York. Still he was a capable
official, and a faithful servant to Henry VI., who called him "one of
the wisest lords of the land" (_Paston Letters_, i. 315). He founded a
college at his native place at Wye, which was suppressed at the
Reformation.
For contemporary authorities see under HENRY VI. See also J. Raine's
_Historians of the Church of York_, vol. ii.; W. Dugdale's
_Monasticon_, iii. 254, vi. 1430-1432; and W. F. Hook's _Lives of
Archbishops of Canterbury_, v. 188-267. (C. L. K.)
KEMPEN, a town in the Prussian Rhine Province, 40 m. N. of Cologne by
the railway to Zevenaar. Pop. (1900), 6319. It has a monument to Thomas
à Kempis, who was born there. The industries are considerable, and
include silk-weaving, glass-making and the manufacture of electrical
plant. Kempen belonged in the middle ages to the archbishopric of
Cologne and received civic rights in 1294. It is memorable as the scene
of a victory gained, on the 17th of January 1642, by the French and
Hessians over the Imperialists.
See Terwelp, _Die Stadt Kempen_ (Kempen, 1894), and Niessen,
_Heimatkunde des Kreises Kempen_ (Crefeld, 1895).
KEMPENFELT, RICHARD (1718-1782), British rear-admiral, was born at
Westminster in 1718. His father, a Swede, is said to have been in the
service of James II., and subsequently to have entered the British army.
Richard Kempenfelt went into the navy, and saw his first service in the
West Indies, taking part in the capture of Portobello. In 1746 he
returned to England, and from that date to 1780, when he was made
rear-admiral, saw active service in the East Indies with Sir George
Pocock and in various quarters of the world. In 1781 he gained, with a
vastly inferior force, a brilliant victory, fifty leagues south-west of
Ushant, over the French fleet under De Guichen, capturing twenty prizes.
In 1782 he hoisted his flag on the "Royal George," which formed part of
the fleet under Lord Howe. In August this fleet was ordered to refit at
top speed at Portsmouth, and proceed to the relief of Gibraltar. A leak
having been located below the waterline of the "Royal George," the
vessel was careened to allow of the defect being repaired. According to
the version of the disaster favoured by the Admiralty, she was
overturned by a breeze. But the general opinion of the navy was that the
shifting of her weights was more than the old and rotten timbers of the
"Royal George" could stand. A large piece of her bottom fell out, and
she went down at once. It is estimated that not fewer than 800 persons
went down with her, for besides the crew there were a large number of
tradesmen, women and children on board. Kempenfelt, who was in his
cabin, perished with the rest. Cowper's poem, the "Loss of the Royal
George," commemorates this disaster. Kempenfelt effected radical
alterations and improvements in the signalling system then existing in
the British navy. A painting of the loss of the "Royal George" is in the
Royal United Service Institution, London.
See Charnock's _Biog. Nav._, vi. 246, and Ralfe's _Naval Biographies_,
i. 215.
KEMPT, SIR JAMES (1764-1854), British soldier, was gazetted to the 101st
Foot in India in 1783, but on its disbandment two years later was placed
on half-pay. It is said that he took a clerkship in Greenwood's, the
army agents (afterwards Cox & Co.). He attracted the notice of the Duke
of York, through whom he obtained a captaincy (very soon followed by a
majority) in the newly raised 113th Foot. But it was not long before his
regiment experienced the fate of the old 101st; this time however Kempt
was retained on full pay in the recruiting service. In 1799 he
accompanied Sir Ralph Abercromby to Holland, and later to Egypt as an
aide-de-camp. After Abercromby's death Kempt remained on his successor's
staff until the end of the campaign in Egypt. In April 1803 he joined
the staff of Sir David Dundas, but next month returned to regimental
duty, and a little later received a lieutenant-colonelcy in the 81st
Foot. With his new regiment he went, under Craig, to the Mediterranean
theatre of operations, and at Maida the light brigade led by him bore
the heaviest share of the battle. Employed from 1807 to 1811 on the
staff in North America, Brevet-Colonel Kempt at the end of 1811 joined
Wellington's army in Spain with the local rank of major-general, which
was, on the 1st of January 1812, made substantive. As one of Picton's
brigadiers, Kempt took part in the great assault on Badajoz and was
severely wounded. On rejoining for duty, he was posted to the command of
a brigade of the Light Division (43rd, 52nd and 95th Rifles), which he
led at Vera, the Nivelle (where he was again wounded), Bayonne, Orthez
and Toulouse. Early in 1815 he was made K.C.B., and in July for his
services at Waterloo, G.C.B. At that battle he commanded the 28th, 32nd
and 79th as a brigadier under his old chief, Picton, and on Picton's
death succeeded to the command of his division. From 1828 to 1830 he was
Governor-General of Canada, and at a critical time displayed firmness
and moderation. He was afterwards Master-General of the Ordnance. At the
time of his death in 1854 he had been for some years a full General.
KEMPTEN, a town in the kingdom of Bavaria on the Iller, 81 m. S.W. of
Munich by rail. Pop. (1905), 20,663. The town is well built, has many
spacious squares and attractive public grounds, and contains a castle, a
handsome town-hall, a gymnasium, &c. The old palace of the abbots of
Kempten, dating from the end of the 17th century, is now partly used as
barracks, and near to it is the fine abbey church. The industries
include wool-spinning and weaving and the manufacture of paper, beer,
machines, hosiery and matches. As the commercial centre of the Algäu,
Kempten carries on active trade in timber and dairy produce. Numerous
remains have been discovered on the Lindenberg, a hill in the vicinity.
Kempten, identified with the Roman Cambodunum, consisted in early times
of two towns, the old and the new. The continual hostility that existed
between these was intensified by the welcome given by the old town, a
free imperial city since 1289, to the Reformed doctrines, the new town
keeping to the older faith. The Benedictine abbey of Kempten, said to
have been founded in 773 by Hildegarde, the wife of Charlemagne, was an
important house. In 1360 its abbot was promoted to the dignity of a
prince of the Empire by the emperor Charles IV.; the town and abbey
passed to Bavaria in 1803. Here the Austrians defeated the French on the
17th of September 1796.
See Förderreuther, _Die Stadt Kempten und ihre Umgebung_ (Kempten,
1901); Haggenmüller, _Geschichte der Stadt und der gefürsteten
Grafschaft Kempten_, vol. i. (Kempten, 1840); and Meirhofer,
_Geschichtliche Darstellung der denkwürdigsten Schicksale der Stadt
Kempten_ (Kempten, 1856).
KEN, THOMAS (1637-1711), the most eminent of the English non-juring
bishops, and one of the fathers of modern English hymnology, was born at
Little Berkhampstead, Herts, in 1637. He was the son of Thomas Ken of
Furnival's Inn, who belonged to an ancient stock,--that of the Kens of
Ken Place, in Somersetshire; his mother was a daughter of the now
forgotten poet, John Chalkhill, who is called by Walton an "acquaintant
and friend of Edmund Spenser." Ken's step-sister, Anne, was married to
Izaak Walton in 1646, a connexion which brought Ken from his boyhood
under the refining influence of this gentle and devout man. In 1652 Ken
entered Winchester College, and in 1656 became a student of Hart Hall,
Oxford. He gained a fellowship at New College in 1657, and proceeded
B.A. in 1661 and M.A. in 1664. He was for some time tutor of his
college; but the most characteristic reminiscence of his university life
is the mention made by Anthony Wood that in the musical gatherings of
the time "Thomas Ken of New College, a junior, would be sometimes among
them, and sing his part." Ordained in 1662, he successively held the
livings of Little Easton in Essex, Brighstone (sometimes called Brixton)
in the Isle of Wight, and East Woodhay in Hampshire; in 1672 he resigned
the last of these, and returned to Winchester, being by this time a
prebendary of the cathedral, and chaplain to the bishop, as well as a
fellow of Winchester College. He remained there for several years,
acting as curate in one of the lowest districts, preparing his _Manual
of Prayers for the use of the Scholars of Winchester College_ (first
published in 1674), and composing hymns. It was at this time that he
wrote, primarily for the same body as his prayers, his morning, evening
and midnight hymns, the first two of which, beginning "Awake, my soul,
and with the sun" and "Glory to Thee, my God, this night," are now
household words wherever the English tongue is spoken. The latter is
often made to begin with the line "All praise to Thee, my God, this
night," but in the earlier editions over which Ken had control, the line
is as first given.[1] In 1674 Ken paid a visit to Rome in company with
young Izaak Walton, and this journey seems mainly to have resulted in
confirming his regard for the Anglican communion. In 1679 he was
appointed by Charles II. chaplain to the Princess Mary, wife of William
of Orange. While with the court at the Hague, he incurred the
displeasure of William by insisting that a promise of marriage, made to
an English lady of high birth by a relative of the prince, should be
kept; and he therefore gladly returned to England in 1680, when he was
immediately appointed one of the king's chaplains. He was once more
residing at Winchester in 1683 when Charles came to the city with his
doubtfully composed court, and his residence was chosen as the home of
Nell Gwynne; but Ken stoutly objected to this arrangement, and succeeded
in making the favourite find quarters elsewhere. In August of this same
year he accompanied Lord Dartmouth to Tangier as chaplain to the fleet,
and Pepys, who was one of the company, has left on record some quaint
and kindly reminiscences of him and of his services on board. The fleet
returned in April 1684, and a few months after, upon a vacancy occurring
in the see of Bath and Wells, Ken, now Dr Ken, was appointed bishop. It
is said that, upon the occurrence of the vacancy, Charles, mindful of
the spirit he had shown at Winchester, exclaimed, "Where is the good
little man that refused his lodging to poor Nell?" and determined that
no other should be bishop. The consecration took place at Lambeth on the
25th of January 1685; and one of Ken's first duties was to attend the
deathbed of Charles, where his wise and faithful ministrations won the
admiration of everybody except Bishop Burnet. In this year he published
his _Exposition on the Church Catechism_, perhaps better known by its
sub-title, _The Practice of Divine Love_. In 1688, when James reissued
his "Declaration of Indulgence," Ken was one of the "seven bishops" who
refused to publish it. He was probably influenced by two considerations:
first, by his profound aversion from Roman Catholicism, to which he felt
he would be giving some episcopal recognition by compliance; but, second
and more especially, by the feeling that James was compromising the
spiritual freedom of the church. Along with his six brethren, Ken was
committed to the Tower on the 8th of June 1688, on a charge of high
misdemeanour; the trial, which took place on the 29th and 30th of the
month, and which resulted in a verdict of acquittal, is matter of
history. With the revolution which speedily followed this impolitic
trial, new troubles encountered Ken; for, having sworn allegiance to
James, he thought himself thereby precluded from taking the oath to
William of Orange. Accordingly, he took his place among the non-jurors,
and, as he stood firm to his refusal, he was, in August 1691, superseded
in his bishopric by Dr Kidder, dean of Peterborough. From this time he
lived mostly in retirement, finding a congenial home with Lord Weymouth,
his friend from college days, at Longleat in Wiltshire; and though
pressed to resume his diocese in 1703, upon the death of Bishop Kidder,
he declined, partly on the ground of growing weakness, but partly no
doubt from his love for the quiet life of devotion which he was able to
lead at Longleat. His death took place there on the 19th of March 1711.
Although Ken wrote much poetry, besides his hymns, he cannot be called
a great poet; but he had that fine combination of spiritual insight
and feeling with poetic taste which marks all great hymn-writers. As a
hymn-writer he has had few equals in England; it can scarcely be said
that even Keble, though possessed of much rarer poetic gifts,
surpassed him in his own sphere (see HYMNS). In his own day he took
high rank as a pulpit orator, and even royalty had to beg for a seat
amongst his audiences; but his sermons are now forgotten. He lives in
history, apart from his three hymns, mainly as a man of unstained
purity and invincible fidelity to conscience, weak only in a certain
narrowness of view which is a frequent attribute of the intense
character which he possessed. As an ecclesiastic he was a High
Churchman of the old school.
Ken's poetical works were published in collected form in four volumes
by W. Hawkins, his relative and executor, in 1721; his prose works
were issued in 1838 in one volume, under the editorship of J. T.
Round. A brief memoir was prefixed by Hawkins to a selection from
Ken's works which he published in 1713; and a life, in two volumes, by
the Rev. W. L. Bowles, appeared in 1830. But the standard biographies
of Ken are those of J. Lavicount Anderdon (_The Life of Thomas Ken,
Bishop of Bath and Wells, by a Layman_, 1851; 2nd ed., 1854) and of
Dean Plumptre (2 vols., 1888; revised, 1890). See also the Rev. W.
Hunt's article in the _Dict. Nat. Biog._
FOOTNOTE:
[1] The fact, however, that in 1712--only a year after Ken's
death--his publisher, Brome, published the hymn with the opening
words "All praise," has been deemed by such a high authority as the
1st earl of Selborne sufficient evidence that the alteration had
Ken's authority.
KEN, a river of Northern India, tributary to the Jumna on its right
bank, flowing through Bundelkhand. An important reservoir in its upper
basin, which impounds about 180 million cubic feet of water, irrigates
about 374,000 acres in a region specially liable to drought.
KENA, or KENEH (sometimes written _Qina_), a town of Upper Egypt on a
canal about a mile E. of the Nile and 380 m. S.S.E. of Cairo by rail.
Pop. (1907), 20,069. Kena, the capital of a province of the same name,
was called by the Greeks Caene or Caenepolis (probably the [Greek: Neê
polis] of Herodotus; see AKHMIM) in distinction from Coptos (q.v.), 15
m. S., to whose trade it eventually succeeded. It is a remarkable fact
that its modern name should be derived from a purely Greek word, like
Iskenderia from Alexandria, and Nekrash from Naucratis; in the absence
of any known Egyptian name it seems to point to Kena having originated
in a foreign settlement in connexion with the Red Sea trade. It is a
flourishing town, specially noted for the manufacture of the porous
water jars and bottles used throughout Egypt. The clay for making them
is obtained from a valley north of Kena. The pottery is sent down the
Nile in specially constructed boats. Kena is also known for the
excellence of the dates sold in its bazaars and for the large colony of
dancing girls who live there. It carries on a trade in grain and dates
with Arabia, via Kosseir on the Red Sea, 100 m. E. in a direct line.
This inconsiderable traffic is all that is left of the extensive
commerce formerly maintained--chiefly via Berenice and Coptos--between
Upper Egypt and India and Arabia. The road to Kosseir is one of great
antiquity. It leads through the valley of Hammamat, celebrated for its
ancient breccia quarries and deserted gold mines. During the British
operations in Egypt in 1801 Sir David Baird and his force marched along
this road to Kena, taking sixteen days on the journey from Kosseir.
KENDAL, DUKEDOM OF. The English title of duke of Kendal was first
bestowed in May 1667 upon Charles (d. 1667), the infant son of the duke
of York, afterwards James II. Several persons have been created earl of
Kendal, among them being John, duke of Bedford, son of Henry IV.; John
Beaufort, duke of Somerset (d. 1444); and Queen Anne's husband, George,
prince of Denmark.
In 1719 Ehrengarde Melusina (1667-1743), mistress of the English king
George I., was created duchess of Kendal. This lady was the daughter of
Gustavus Adolphus, count of Schulenburg (d. 1691), and was born at Emden
on the 25th of December 1667. Her father held important positions under
the elector of Brandenburg; her brother Matthias John (1661-1747) won
great fame as a soldier in Germany and was afterwards commander-in-chief
of the army of the republic of Venice. Having entered the household of
Sophia, electress of Hanover, Melusina attracted the notice of her son,
the future king, whose mistress she became about 1690. When George
crossed over to England in 1714, the "Schulenburgin," as Sophia called
her, followed him and soon supplanted her principal rival, Charlotte
Sophia, Baroness von Kilmannsegge (c. 1673-1725), afterwards countess of
Darlington, as his first favourite. In 1716 she was created duchess of
Munster; then duchess of Kendal; and in 1723 the emperor Charles VI.
made her a princess of the Empire. The duchess was very avaricious and
obtained large sums of money by selling public offices and titles; she
also sold patent rights, one of these being the privilege of supplying
Ireland with a new copper coinage. This she sold to a Wolverhampton iron
merchant named William Wood (1671-1730), who flooded the country with
coins known as "Wood's halfpence," thus giving occasion for the
publication of Swift's famous _Drapier's Letters_. In political matters
she had much influence with the king, and she received £10,000 for
procuring the recall of Bolingbroke from exile. After George's death in
1727 she lived at Kendal House, Isleworth, Middlesex, until her death on
the 10th of May 1743. The duchess was by no means a beautiful woman, and
her thin figure caused the populace to refer to her as the "maypole." By
the king she had two daughters: Petronilla Melusina (c. 1693-1778), who
was created countess of Walsingham in 1722, and who married the great
earl of Chesterfield; and Margaret Gertrude, countess of Lippe
(1703-1773).
KENDAL, WILLIAM HUNTER (1843- ), English actor, whose family name was
Grimston, was born in London on the 16th of December 1843, the son of a
painter. He made his first stage appearance at Glasgow in 1862 as Louis
XIV., in _A Life's Revenge_, billed as "Mr Kendall." After some
experience at Birmingham and elsewhere, he joined the Haymarket company
in London in 1866, acting everything from burlesque to Romeo. In 1869 he
married Margaret (Madge) Shafto Robertson (b. 1849), sister of the
dramatist, T. W. Robertson. As "Mr and Mrs Kendal" their professional
careers then became inseparable. Mrs Kendal's first stage appearance was
as Marie, "a child," in _The Orphan of the Frozen Sea_ in 1854 in
London. She soon showed such talent both as actress and singer that she
secured numerous engagements, and by 1865 was playing Ophelia and
Desdemona. She was Mary Meredith in _Our American Cousin_ with Sothern,
and Pauline to his Claud Melnotte. But her real triumphs were at the
Haymarket in Shakespearian revivals and the old English comedies. While
Mr Kendal played Orlando, Charles Surface, Jack Absolute and Young
Marlowe, his wife made the combination perfect with her Rosalind, Lady
Teazle, Lydia Languish and Kate Hardcastle; and she created Galatea in
Gilbert's _Pygmalion and Galatea_ (1871). Short seasons followed at the
Court theatre and at the Prince of Wales's, at the latter of which they
joined the Bancrofts in _Diplomacy_ and other plays. Then in 1879 began
a long association with Mr (afterwards Sir John) Hare as joint-managers
of the St James's theatre, some of their notable successes being in _The
Squire_, _Impulse_, _The Ironmaster_ and _A Scrap of Paper_. In 1888,
however, the Hare and Kendal régime came to an end. From that time Mr
and Mrs Kendal chiefly toured in the provinces and in America, with an
occasional season at rare intervals in London.
KENDAL, a market town and municipal borough in the Kendal parliamentary
division of Westmorland, England, 251 m. N.N.W. from London on the
Windermere branch of the London & North-Western railway. Pop. (1901),
14,183. The town, the full name of which is Kirkby-Kendal or
Kirkby-in-Kendal, is the largest in the county. It is picturesquely
placed on the river Kent, and is irregularly built. The white-walled
houses with their blue-slated roofs, and the numerous trees, give it an
attractive appearance. To the S.W. rises an abrupt limestone eminence,
Scout Scar, which commands an extensive view towards Windermere and the
southern mountains of the Lake District. The church of the Holy Trinity,
the oldest part of which dates from about 1200, is a Gothic building
with five aisles and a square tower. In it is the helmet of Major Robert
Philipson, who rode into the church during service in search of one of
Cromwell's officers, Colonel Briggs, to do vengeance on him. This major
was notorious as "Robin the Devil," and his story is told in Scott's
_Rokeby_. Among the public buildings are the town hall, classic in
style; the market house, and literary and scientific institution, with a
museum containing a fossil collection from the limestone of the
locality. Educational establishments include a free grammar school, in
modern buildings, founded in 1525 and well endowed; a blue-coat school,
science and art school, and green-coat Sunday school (1813). On an
eminence east of the town are the ruins of Kendal castle, attributed to
the first barons of Kendal. It was the birthplace of Catherine Parr,
Henry VIII.'s last queen. On the Castlebrow Hill, an artificial mound
probably of pre-Norman origin, an obelisk was raised in 1788 in memory
of the revolution of 1688. The woollen manufactures of Kendal have been
noted since 1331, when Edward III. is said to have granted letters of
protection to John Kemp, a Flemish weaver who settled in the town; and,
although the coarse cloth known to Shakespeare as "Kendal green" is no
longer made, its place is more than supplied by active manufactures of
tweeds, railway rugs, horse clothing, knitted woollen caps and jackets,
worsted and woollen yarns, and similar goods. Other manufactures of
Kendal are machine-made boots and shoes, cards for wool and cotton,
agricultural and other machinery, paper, and, in the neighbourhood,
gunpowder. There is a large weekly market for grain, and annual horse
and cattle fairs. The town is governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18
councillors. Area, 2622 acres.
The outline of a Roman fort is traceable at Watercrook near Kendal. The
barony and castle of Kendal or Kirkby-in-Kendal, held by Turold before
the Conquest, were granted by William I. to Ivo de Taillebois, but the
barony was divided into three parts in the reign of Richard II., one
part with the castle passing to Sir William Parr, knight, ancestor of
Catherine Parr. After the death of her brother William Parr, marquess of
Northampton, his share of the barony called Marquis Fee reverted to
Queen Elizabeth. The castle, being evidently deserted, was in ruins in
Reading Tips
Use arrow keys to navigate
Press 'N' for next chapter
Press 'P' for previous chapter