Roger Kemble, father of the little girl, was the manager of a strolling company of actors, his theatrical "circuit" including the counties of Staffordshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire. He was born in Hereford in the year 1721, and it was said that he began life as a "barber." John Kemble, when convivial, would sometimes allude to this fact; but, indeed, in those days many actors are said to have been "barbers," the fact being that, when strolling, it was sometimes found convenient for one of the company to combine the two professions. He was a Roman Catholic, and was fond of tracing his descent from an old English family, claiming as ancestors a Captain Kemble, who fought at Worcester in the camp of the Stuarts, and a Father Kemble, who died for the faith a few years later.
Her mother was a Miss Ward, daughter also of an actor and manager of a strolling company. Peg Woffington, when only fifteen, played at his theatre in Auniger Street, until Mr. Ward's strait-laced severity drove the wild young Irish girl away. The Wards seem, indeed, to have been almost Methodistical in their strict religious views. The following inscription may be seen on their tomb at Leominster:
Here, waiting for the Saviour's great assize,
And hoping through His merits hence to rise
In glorious mode, in this dark closet lies
John Ward, Gent.,
Who died Oct. 30th, 1773, aged 69 years;
Also
Sarah, his wife,
Who died Jan. 30th, 1786, aged 75 years.
Mrs. Siddons was, therefore, 31 before her grandmother died. Tough, vigorous races, both Kembles
