View source for Sir Edward Kemp

{{Short description|Canadian politician}}
{{other people|Albert Kemp}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]]
|name             = Sir Albert Edward Kemp
|honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=CAN|size=100%|PC|KCMG}}
|image            = Albert Edward Kemp.jpg
|imagesize        = 150px
|constituency_MP1 = [[Toronto East (federal electoral district)|Toronto East]] (2nd time)
|parliament1      = Canadian
|predecessor1     = [[Joseph Russell (Canadian politician)|Joseph Russell]]
|successor1       = [[Edmond Baird Ryckman]]
|term_start1      = 1911
|term_end1        = 1921
|constituency_MP2 = [[Toronto East (federal electoral district)|Toronto East]] (1st time)
|parliament2      = Canadian
|predecessor2     = [[John Ross Robertson]]
|successor2       = [[Joseph Russell (Canadian politician)|Joseph Russell]]
|term_start2      = 1900
|term_end2        = 1908
|birth_date       = {{birth date|1858|8|11|mf=y}}
|birth_place      = [[Saint-Georges-de-Clarenceville, Quebec|Saint-Georges-de-Clarenceville]], [[Canada East]]
|death_date       = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1929|8|12|1858|8|11}}
|death_place      = [[Pigeon Lake (Ontario)|Pigeon Lake]], [[Ontario]], Canada
|nationality=[[Canadians|Canadian]]
|party            = [[Liberal-Conservative Party|Liberal-Conservative]]
|otherparty       = [[Unionist Party (Canada)|Unionist]]
|spouse           = Cecilia Amanda Wilson<br />Virginia Norton Copping
|children         = Katharine Edward Kemp<br />Alice Irene Kemp<br />Hazel Beatrice Kemp<br />Florence Evelyn Kemp
|profession       = Businessman
}}

'''Sir Albert Edward Kemp''' {{postnominals|country=CAN|PC|KCMG}} (August 11, 1858 &ndash; August 12, 1929) was a Canadian businessman and politician. Kemp was a Canadian [[Minister of Militia and Defence]] and [[Minister of Overseas Military Forces]] during [[World War I]]. A [[Conservative Party of Canada (historical)|Conservative]] and [[Unionist Party (Canada)|Unionist]], Kemp was elected five times to the [[House of Commons of Canada]] as the [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Member of Parliament]] for [[electoral district (Canada)|electoral district]] of [[Toronto East (federal electoral district)|Toronto East]]. He was appointed to the [[Senate of Canada]] by [[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]] [[Arthur Meighen]] in 1921.

==Background==
Edward Kemp was born in Saint-Georges-de-Clarenceville, Quebec in what was then [[Canada East]]. Kemp's father was a farmer and country merchant who was an immigrant from [[Yorkshire]], England; his mother was Canadian-born. He was raised near the village of Clarenceville, where he attended Clarenceville Academy, and later studied at the academy in [[Lacolle, Quebec|Lacolle]], excelling in mathematics, but he did not finish. Leaving home at 16, Kemp headed to [[Montreal]] and eventually gaining employment as a bookkeeper at a hardware store.

==Business ambition==
At the age of 20, Kemp became engaged to Cecilia Wilson. Soon afterwards, he and a partner opened a manufacturing and retailing shop on St Catherine Street in Montreal. He and Cecilia moved to Toronto in 1885, where he entered into partnership with Thomas McDonald, owner of the struggling Dominion Tin and Stamping Works. In 1888 Kemp bought out McDonald and formed the Kemp Manufacturing Company with his younger brother, William Arthur, who had left the lumber trade in Quebec to apply his talents in Toronto. Kemp served as president of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association in 1895 and 1896, and as president of the [[Toronto Board of Trade]] in 1899 and 1900. The brothers expanded their operations and opened plants in Montreal and Winnipeg, eventually reorganizing their business as the Sheet Metal Products Company of Canada Limited in 1911.

==Political ambition==
Kemp was elected five times to the House of Commons of Canada as the [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Member of Parliament]] for the [[Ontario]] [[electoral district (Canada)|electoral district]] of [[Toronto East (federal electoral district)|Toronto East]]. He was first elected in the [[1900 Canadian federal election|Canadian federal election of 1900]], and was re-elected in [[1904 Canadian federal election|1904]]. He lost in [[1908 Canadian federal election|1908]] to an "independent Conservative", [[Joseph Russell (Canadian politician)|Joseph Russell]], who had been nominated by some constituents who were unhappy with Kemp's connections to the [[Albany Club]] and Toronto's wealthy class, and who also charged that Kemp was hiring [[foreign worker]]s at low wages at the expense of Canadians.<ref name=dcb>[http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=8218 Dictionary of Canadian Biography:Albert Edward Kemp]</ref> Out of office, Kemp threw his efforts into rebuilding the Conservative machine in Ontario as well as paying off its debts. He used his business connections to rally opposition to the [[Wilfrid Laurier|Laurier]] government's ''[[Naval Service Act]]'' as well as its plans for [[reciprocity (Canadian politics)|reciprocity]] with the United States - a campaign to which he recruited prominent [[Ontario Liberal Party|Ontario Liberals]]. Through Kemp's efforts, he regained his seat in [[1911 Canadian federal election|1911]] and helped [[Robert Borden]] defeat Laurier to become prime minister. Borden rewarded Kemp by appointing him [[minister without portfolio]] in his first [[Canadian Cabinet|Cabinet]].<ref name=dcb/>

==World War I==
[[Image:Mewburn with Borden and Kemp.png|thumb|left|Sydney Chilton Mewburn, Robert Borden, and Albert Kemp in London, England in July 1918]]

During [[World War I]] Kemp sat as a [[Unionist Party (Canada)|Unionist]] in the coalition government formed under [[Robert Borden]]. Kemp played an increasingly important part in the government of Canada during the war years. In 1915 he was appointed chairman of the War Purchasing Commission; in 1916, he succeeded [[Sam Hughes]] as [[Minister of Militia and Defence]]; and in 1917 he went to London as Minister of Overseas Military Forces of Canada, a portfolio which he retained until the demobilization of the Canadian overseas forces was completed. In 1918 he was a member of the [[Imperial War Cabinet]]; and in 1919 he was one of the commissioners representing Canada at the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference]]. For his service during [[World War I]], he was made a Knight Commander of the [[Order of St Michael and St George]] in 1917.

On November 4, 1921, Kemp was appointed to the [[Senate of Canada]] on the recommendation of [[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]] [[Arthur Meighen]]. He represented the [[Senate of Canada divisions|senatorial division]] of Toronto, [[Ontario]] until his death.

==Personal==
Kemp married Cecilia Amanda Wilson (1858–1924) in 1879 and had three daughters: Alice Irene (Mrs. Walter Scott Waldie), Hazel Beatrice (Mrs. Francis Chattan Stephens), and Florence Evelyn (Mrs. Albert Henry Proctor).

Hazel married Captain F. Chattan Stephens of Montreal, who was a son of liberal politician [[George Washington Stephens (senior)|George Washington Stephens]] and half-brother to [[Saar (League of Nations)|Saar]] president [[George Washington Stephens (junior)|George Washington Stephens Jr.]] Their only son, John H. C. Stephens, and F. Chattan's mother, [[Frances Stephens (philanthropist)|Frances McIntosh Stephens]], perished in the sinking of the [[RMS Lusitania|RMS ''Lusitania'']] in 1915.

After the death of his first wife Kemp remarried to Virginia Norton Copping on March 3, 1925. By her first marriage to Norman Judson Copping she had two daughters, Cynthia Dana Copping and Virginia Norton Copping. Norman Copping's parents, George R. and Emma (Black) Copping, were victims of the RMS ''Lusitania'' as well. With Virginia, Kemp had another daughter, Katharine Edward Hanley Kemp Cross (1926–2001).

Albert Edward Kemp died at [[Pigeon Lake (Ontario)|Pigeon Lake]] in 1929 and was buried in [[Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto]].

He was a member of the [[Orange Order]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.orangelodge1654.com/prominentorangemen.htm |title=Prominent Orangemen - G. O. L. Of Western Canada |access-date=October 7, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121214135046/http://www.orangelodge1654.com/prominentorangemen.htm |archive-date=December 14, 2012 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

{{Infobox COA wide
|image=Sir Albert Edward Kemp Escutcheon.png
|escutcheon = Per fess wavy Gules and barry wavy Argent and Azure, in chief a lion rampant between two garbs Or.
|crest = A dexter arm embowed in armour fesswise the hand holding a broken sword proper hilt and pommel Or between two roses Argent barbed and seeded proper.
|motto = PER ARDUA STABILIS ESTO <ref>{{cite web|url=https://reg.gg.ca/heraldry/pub-reg/project.asp?lang=e&ProjectID=2877&ShowAll=1 |title=Albert Edward KEMP |publisher=Canadian Heraldic Authority |access-date=30 May 2020}}</ref>}}

== Archives ==
There are Albert Edward Kemp fonds at [[Library and Archives Canada]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Albert Edward Kemp fonds, Library and Archives Canada|url=http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=104152&lang=eng|access-date=September 4, 2020}}</ref> and the [[University of Toronto]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sir Edward Albert Kemp fonds, University of Toronto|url=https://discoverarchives.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/sir-edward-albert-kemp-fonds|access-date=September 4, 2020}}</ref>

== Electoral record ==
{{1904 Canadian federal election/Toronto East}}
{{1908 Canadian federal election/Toronto East}}
{{1911 Canadian federal election/Toronto East}}

{{Election box begin | title= By-election: On Mr. Kemp being appointed Minister of Militia and Defence, 14 December 1916: Toronto East}}
|-
{{Canadian party colour|CA|PC|row}}
|[[Conservative Party of Canada (historical)|Conservative]]
|Albert Edward Kemp
|align="right"| acclaimed
|}
{{1917 Canadian federal election/Toronto East}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=13520}}
* {{DictCanbio|ID=8218}}
*[https://discoverarchives.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/sir-edward-albert-kemp-fonds Sir Edward Albert Kemp archival papers] held at the [https://utarms.library.utoronto.ca/ University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services]

{{S-start}}
{{Canadian federal ministry navigational box header |ministry=10}}
{{ministry box cabinet posts
| post3preceded = [[George Halsey Perley]]
| post3followed = none
| post3         = [[Minister of Overseas Military Forces]]
| post3note     =
| post3years    = 1917–1920

| post2preceded = [[Sam Hughes]]
| post2followed = [[Sydney Chilton Mewburn]]
| post2         = [[Minister of Militia and Defence (Canada)|Minister of Militia and Defence]]
| post2note     =
| post2years    = 1916–1917

| post1preceded = none
| post1followed = none
| post1         = [[Minister Without Portfolio]]
| post1note     =
| post1years    = 1911–1916}}
{{S-end}}

{{CA-Ministers of Defence}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemp, Edward}}
[[Category:1858 births]]
[[Category:1929 deaths]]
[[Category:Canadian senators from Ontario]]
[[Category:Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs]]
[[Category:Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) senators]]
[[Category:Canadian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario]]
[[Category:Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada]]
[[Category:Unionist Party (Canada) MPs]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Senate of Canada]]