Robert Henry Kemp, well-known Beamsville fruit grower and Lincoln County representative in the Provincial House with the Farmers Progressive Party in 1923 and 1926, died Wednesday evening in Toronto in his 85th year.
Born in the Upper Thirty District, Clinton Township, a son of the late Thomas and Adelaide Kemp, he got his start in politics when he was elected a councillor for North Grimsby Township in 1900. For several years a member of Clinton Township Council, he was later Reeve of the Township Council and Warden of Lincoln County in 1923.
A noted historian of the district, he came of United Empire Loyalist stock and was frequently consulted of the folk lore of the county.
Instrumental in forming the Beamsville Growers' Co-Operative, he was the first president of the group and active in the organization until his retirement from the fruit growing industry a few years ago to move to Toronto.
Mr. Kemp, a member of the First Baptist Church, Beamsville, was a Sunday School teacher for the Adult Bible class for many years and was a senior deacon before retiring to the post of honorary deacon 2 years ago.
Predeceased by his wife, the former Emma Wismer, in 1924, he married the former Alice Louise Riggins, who died 3 years ago. Mr. Kemp is survived by 3 sons, Fred, Roy and Harold, all of Toronto; 5 sisters, Mrs. William Dunn, of Fonthill; Mrs. Paul Marlatt, of Grimsby; Mrs. Walter Riddiford, of Burlington; Mrs. William Harshaw, of Hamilton; and Mrs. Arthur Sharpe, of Toronto; 3 brothers, John, of Beamsville; Jas., of Clinton Township; and George, of Dundas; two grandchildren and one great grandchild also survive.
