HARRY KEMP
Harry Kemp was born in Preston,
Lancashire, England in 1886. He was the son of George Kemp, a solicitor`s clerk
who becoming a travelling showman in 1882 adopting the stage name `President`
Kemp. He married Susannah Green.
Harry worked in the family business of showing - and sometimes making - films
and putting on concerts in their cinemas including La Scala and Regal Cinemas
in Saltcoats. In 1922, Harry was elected to Saltcoats Burgh Council and in 1928
took over the business on the death of his father.
Between 1926 and the opening of the Church of Saint Peter in Chains in 1938, he
allowed his Assembly Hall in Bute Place, Ardrossan to be used for Sunday Mass
and children’s devotions. He also donated the main altar in the Church.
Harry Kemp died in Ardrossan in 1972.
The photograph on the right was taken in about 1940.