John Kemp, 1st Viscount Rochdale

Who was John Kemp, 1st Viscount Rochdale?

Brigadier John Durival Kemp, 1st Viscount Rochdale OBE, TD, DL, was a British peer, soldier and businessman.

Kemp was the eldest son of George Kemp, 1st Baron Rochdale, and Lady Beatrice Mary Egerton, third daughter of Francis Egerton, 3rd Earl of Ellesmere. He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge where he took a degree in Natural Sciences.

Kemp served in the Second World War with US Forces in the Pacific and with the British Army in India, where he was mentioned in despatches, and achieved the rank of Brigadier. He succeeded to the barony on his father's death in 1945. Lord Rochdale was Chairman of the family firm of Kelsall & Kemp from 1950 to 1971, a Member of the Central Transport Consultative Committees from 1952 to 1957, President of the National Union of Manufacturers from 1953 to 1956, a Governor of the BBC from 1954 to 1959 and Chairman of the Cotton Board from 1957 to 1962, when the industry was suffering significant challenges from imports. He was also a Member of the House of Lords European Select Committee from 1981 to 1986 and a Deputy Lieutenant of Cumbria from 1948 to 1983.