Kempe family information.
This page last updated: 1/5/2001
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The following information was emailed to
me and has been posted here to help
others researching the Kempe/Herndon
family lineage.
Message From: CaColvin@aol.com
Carole Colvin, submitter.
Date: Mon, May 3, 1999,
Subject:KEMPE
The eldest son, Robert Kempe, was
enrolled as a student of Grays Inn on 26
Feb 1614/5, It is unlikely he ever
practised as a lawyer, but it seems
probably that he obtained some position
at the Faculty Office, as for some years
a Robert Kempe issued marriage licenses.
Young and wealthy as he was, he soon
found favour, with the result that he
was knighted by King James I on 12
November 1618 at Theobalds,
Hertfordshire, and he retired from the
Faculty Office the same year. From that
date he became closely attached to King
James, and doubtless in the company of
Sir Francis Bacon, enjoyed both pleasure
and profit from the association. He
eventually married Jane Browne, the
heiress of Sir Matthew Browne of
Betchworth Castle, on or before 1626.
From this marriage Robert Kempe secured
a royal Descent for their children.
their eldest son, Robert Kempe, was born
at Walsingham abbey on 2 Feb 1627. Lady
Kempedoubtless found Gissing Hall rather
quiet after the life at London and the
Court, and consequently preferred living
there. When a retreat to the country was
necessary she preferred antingham as a
home, rather than Gissing. The Antingham
resident was described as their home in
1643. Sir Robert Kempe was made a
Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to
Charles I and a Baronet in 1641. See:
Frederick Hitchin-Kemp, Daniel William
Kemp and John Tabor Kemp, A General
History of the Kemp and Kempe Families
of Great Britain and Her Colonies. The
Leadenhall Press Ltd., London, 1902; and
Noel Currer-Briggs, The Search for Mr.
Thomas Kirbye, Gent., Phillimore & Co.
Ltd., 1986.
Richard Kempe, the Secretary of
Virginia, succeeded William Claibourne
in this post. He married, as his first
wife, Anne Hogg of Hull, Yorkshire, born
in 1617. After her death in Virginia, he
married, as his second wife, Elizabeth
Wormely, the daughter of Henry Wormely
of Riccall in Yorkshire, born around
1616. He made a will, dated 4 January
1649/50 and proved in the PCC on 6
December 1656. His widow, Elizabeth
Lunsford, alias Kempe, was his executor.
He was described as of Kich Neck,
Virginia, and left to Elizabeth, his
wife, all his estates in Virginia and
his money. He asked Sir William
Berkeley, the Governor of Virginia, to
see his widow and his daughter, also
clled Elizabeth Kempe, returned safely
to England; and to take care that her
upbringing was entrusted to Richard
Kempe's uncle, Ralph Wormely.
Elizabeth Kempe (nee Wormeley), his
widow, remairred to Sir Thomas Lunsford,
Baronet, of London and Virginia, as his
third wife; and by whom she had three
children, namely Daniel Lunsofrd,
Richard Lunsford, and John Lunsford. Sir
Thomas Lunsford was the son of Thomas
Lunsford of Bexhill, Sussex. His mother
was Catherine Fludd, whose brother,
robert Fludd (1574-1637), was well known
as a Rosicrucian and as a physician.
They were children of Sir Thomas Fludd,
Knight. "Sometimes Treasurer of War to
Queen Elizabeth in France and the Low
Countries", and were born in Bearstead,
Kent. Robert Fludd was four times Censor
of the Royal College of Physicians. He
lived at Fenchurch Street and died,
unmarried, on 8 Sept 1637 at his house
in the parish of St. Catherine, Colman
Street, London. His nephew was Thomas
Fludd, or Floyd, of Gore Court, Otham,
Kent. another sister married Sir
Nicholas Gilbourne of Charing, Kent.
Herin lies the connection to John Fludd
(Flood), who emigrated to Virginia in
1610 on the Swan. After the death of Sir
Thomas Lunsford in 1653, Elizabeth
Lunsford (nee Wormely) remarried again
to Major-General Robert Smith. Robert
Smith was one of three agents, along
with Francis Moryson and Thomas Ludwell
sent by the Assembly of Virginia in 1676
to King Charles II to attempt to help
secure passage of the Royal Charter for
Virginia following Bacon's rebellion.
(Thank you Bran for letting us post this
on the web and to Ken for forwarding it
to me.)
Carole
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