Kemble, Adelaide (1814–1879)
Kemble, Adelaide (1814–1879)
English soprano and author. Name variations: Adelaide Sartoris; Mrs. Edward Sartoris. Born in London in 1814; died in Warsash on August 4, 1879; daughter of Charles Kemble (an actor) and Maria Theresa (De Camp) Kemble (1774–1838, an actress); younger sister of Fanny Kemble (1809–1893); studied in London with Braham, in Italy with Pasta; married Edward Sartoris (a wealthy Italian), in 1843; children: Algernon Charles Sartoris (married Ellen "Nellie" Grant [1855–1922], the daughter of Ulysses S. Grant).
Born in 1814 in London into a famous dramatic family, Adelaide Kemble was the daughter of actor Charles Kemble and actress Maria Theresa Kemble , the niece of Sarah Siddons , and the younger sister of Fanny Kemble . Adelaide chose to pursue, instead, musical studies, making her operatic debut as Norma in Venice in 1838. After much success in Italy, she also sang Norma at London's Covent Garden in 1841. She then appeared in Figaro, Sonnambula, and Semiramide. After a short though brilliant career, she married Edward Sartoris, an Italian of wealth, and retired to his estate in Italy in 1843. In 1874, her son Algernon Charles Sartoris married Ellen "Nellie" Grant , one of Julia Grant and President Ulysses S. Grant's daughters. An account of Adelaide Kemble's career can be found in Fanny Kemble's Record of a Girlhood (London, 1878). Adelaide is the author of A Week in a French Country House.