Keith Kissack

Who is Keith Kissack?

Keith Edward Kissack MBE was a British schoolteacher and historian. He is notable for his many publications on the history of Monmouth and Monmouthshire.

He was born in Clun, Shropshire, and attended Durham School where he was a member of the school cricket team in 1931 and 1932. He later attended St Mark and St John's College, Chelsea, where he trained as a teacher. After the Second World War, in which he was wounded, he taught in Monmouth, becoming headmaster of Priory Street School. He served on Monmouth Town Council, and was a magistrate who chaired the local bench. He was also Curator of the Monmouth Museum, and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He was made MBE in 1976.

His major publications, excluding journal articles, included:

The Trivial Round: Life in Monmouth, 1830-1840

The Inns and Friendly Societies of Monmouth

The Formative Years: the rise of Monmouth under its Breton lords, 1075-1257

Mediaeval Monmouth

Monmouth: the Making of a County Town

The River Wye

The River Severn

Victorian Monmouth

Monmouth and its Buildings