I am a descendent of the famous English Kemble acting family. I have traced this family back to the 16th century and have posted my ged on ancestry.com. See:
http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:27473...for some information in my tree on the origin of the Kemble name. This Kemble family were staunch catholics. The Hereferdshire Kembles, from whom the founder of the acting clan claimed descent, used a coat of arms with three leopards. Roger Kemble, the founder of the acting clan, obtained permission to use a similar coat of arms, even though he could not supply adequate documentary proof of descent from this family. There was a prominent NJ and Hudson Valley Kemble family descended from Peter Kemble of Mount Kemble NJ (Morris County), which also claimed descent from this Hereferdshire family and used the same Coat of Arms. Gouverneur Kemble, of the famed West Point Foundry, appears to have been a major source of this claim. He was a friend of Fanny Kemble (famous English acting Kemble) and had her convinced that they were distantly related. However, in the book by the NY Historical Society about this family, Gouverneur admits that he can't actually specifically trace the family back earlier than Peter's grandfather, an Assistant Alderman of London. Is there anyone out there who can trace this relationship or knows whether Gouverneur's claims were true? Does anyone know whether this Amercian Kemble family were adherents of the Catholic faith?