Connelly Library

Born in 1809, Fanny Kemble was the scion of the Kemble family, a family rooted in the English stage and acting world. Sent from a young age to many girls' schools throughout Europe with the hope of curbing her rebellious nature, Fanny was exposed to many new passions and talents such as literature. She aimed towards becoming a writer. However, when her family began to struggle financially, Fanny offered to enter the acting world to drum up revenue. Coached by her mother, she landed her first role playing Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, resulting in overwhelmingly positive reviews.  

Catapulted into the upper echelons of English society and receiving positive reviews with every play, Fanny decided to trade in her English stage for an American one. Beginning her American tour in New York, she soon reached celebrity status in America, attracting the attention of many Americans with her acting, such as a young Walt Whitman. During her shows in Philadelphia, she found herself wooed by a young gentleman named Pierce Butler, the heir to a Georgia plantation empire who would begin accompanying Fanny and her family on the rest of her tour. In Washington D.C., Fanny’s audience included influential guests, such as former presidents and Supreme Court justices. 

After her tour, Fanny was faced with the ultimatum of staying in America and marrying Pierce or returning to England with her father. Choosing Pierce, with a compromise that allowed her to return to London for one final tour, the two married in Philadelphia. However, Pierce soon reneged on the deal, forcing Fanny to stay with him in America and effectively ending her acting career. This was the start of a complicated and tumultuous marriage for the two, as Fanny, naturally rebellious, refused to submit to Pierce’s strict control. Fanny ran away from Pierce many times, only to return to him. One of these occasions resulted in Fanny becoming pregnant with the couple’s first child. After the birth of her daughter, Fanny began writing a book speaking out against slavery, causing a national uproar that played a role in allowing Fanny to return to England with their daughter in tow. 

Surrounded by family and friends, Fanny spent her time in England enjoying herself before beginning to miss Pierce. When he finally arrived in England, he could only briefly stay but was nevertheless able to make an impression on English society during his brief stay. After the two returned to America, Fanny was pregnant with the couple’s second daughter, eventually giving birth as numerous illnesses and tragedies ravaged the family. Needing a winter escape from their problems, the family traveled to the Butler Plantation in Georgia. Shocked and disgusted at how enslaved people were given the barebones necessities to survive, Fanny aimed to improve their lives, establishing a hospital and nursery on the plantation and even teaching some enslaved people how to read. She also began keeping a journal in which she took detailed notes about her experiences with slavery and her growing sense of being oppressed as a woman. 

The family soon returned to England where they stayed for nearly three years. During this time, Fanny began writing essays and reviews as a source of income due to Pierce’s notorious gambling and spending habits. When given the offer to have her numerous letters about slavery published, she was forbidden to do so by Pierce. The family eventually returned to Philadelphia where Fanny found solid proof of Pierce’s earlier affairs. Pierce's pro-slavery views and his philandering finally led Fanny to ask Pierce for a formal separation. Pierce schemed and was able to take custody of their daughters. A heartbroken Fanny soon moved back to London where she began selling poems. Eventually, Fanny made a dramatic return to the stage and ventured back to America.  

Pierce’s financial woes forced his hand and a divorce settlement was finally reached with Fanny. The settlement was favorable to Pierce, allowing him to retain primary custody of their children. Fanny moved to Lenox, MA, returning to England when her father became ill. After his death, Fanny was joined by her oldest daughter Sarah, as Pierce’s financial problems reached a head. After Sarah returned to America, she married Owen Jones Wister who resided in the Germantown area of Philadelphia. Fanny returned to America and moved in with the Wisters, caring for her grandson while speaking publicly about her views on the Civil War and slavery. In 1863, Fanny agreed to have her plantation journal, Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838–1839, published. The journal received widespread acclaim in the North and contempt in the South. 

After her youngest daughter’s marriage in London following the war’s end, Fanny and the Wisters moved to London. The clan traveled throughout Europe and renewed relationships with the rest of the Kemble family until once again returning to America, with Fanny taking up residency in a cottage in the Philadelphia suburbs. During this period of her life, Fanny began publishing correspondence as a source of income. She also began publishing letters in the form of a memoir while simultaneously publishing them as magazine articles in the Atlantic Monthly. She returned to England for the last time in the accompaniment of her youngest daughter and son-in-law, where she traveled throughout Europe visiting friends and family. She released two more memoirs and a novel as her health began to deteriorate. Fanny eventually died in 1893 with her former housemaid and friend at her side, leaving behind a distinguished legacy of acting, writing, and advocacy for African Americans. 

Photograph of Fanny Kemble, Historical Society of Pennsylvania

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