Kemp, Alfred Greatrex

Alfred Greatrex Kemp born 22nd August 1886 and baptised at St Nicholas Church on 1st October 1886.  The family were living at Coten End at that time.

Census records in 1901 show that the family were living at 10 Jury Street.  Alfred’s father Thomas is described as a ‘JP (Justice of the Peace) living on own means’.   The children of the family were Thomas C (18), Alfred (14) and Catherine Hannah (Nancy) (11).

The Kemp family were still at the same address in 1911, although Thomas is not listed and Alfred is working as a ‘surveyors assistant’.  The family employ two servants, sisters Maude and Blanche Grey.

Alfred was a pupil at Warwick School and a successful sportsman.  Here he is pictured as a member of the Under 14 Cricket Team 1900 – fifth from left top row

Alfred Kemp’s Great Niece, Juliet Homer, writes:

‘My great uncle Alfred Greatrex Kemp 2nd Lieu 9th Battn. Royal Warwickshire Regiment was educated at Warwick School around 1900. He lived with his parents Thomas and Emily Kemp, his brother Cuthbert and his sister Nancy (my grandmother) at 10 Jury Street.  The family moved to the The Red House, which is on the corner of The Butts and East Gate, some time after Alfred’s death.  His name is one of the names on the Warwick War Memorial (A G Kemp) His name is also on the memorial board in the Chapel at Warwick School. He was killed in action at Gallipoli on 10th August 1915 at the age of 29. 

The Kemp family were very much a Warwick family most of whom were baptized and married in Warwick at St Mary’s or St Nicholas and who are also buried there and in Warwick Cemetery. Alfred’s father, Thomas, was twice Mayor of Warwick.  This photograph was taken at Cranford, near Leamington in April or May 1915, three or four months before he was killed.

His sister Nancy wrote a diary in 1909 of six months of her life in Warwick – she was 19 years old and the diary records her daily life in and around Warwick with her brothers Alfred and Cuthbert. When she wrote little did she know that her brother Alfred would be killed six years later at the age of 29 and that her other brother Cuthbert would die thirteen years later at the age of 39. She herself died in her 50’s.’

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The first piece in the Warwick Advertiser gives brief details of Alfred’s life prior to enlisting as well as whilst he was in the army.  This was followed five months later by a tribute from one of the men in Alfred’s battalion: