Kemp, Richard, deputy governor from 1644 to 1645, was a sone, it is believed, of Sir Robert Kemp, of Gissing, in Suffolk county, England. He succeeded William Claiborne as secretary of state in 1634. When in 1639 Harvey was supplanted as governor by Sir Francis Wyatt, Kemp, by the influence of Lord Baltimore and Secretary of State Windebank, retained his place as secretary. Incurring the enmity of Rev. Anthony Panton, whom Harvey and himself had treated with great severity, he returned to England in 1640 to defend his conduct, leaving his friend George Reade as deputy secretary. Richard Kemp staid in England about two years, and returned in 1642 to his old post, with Sir William Berkeley. He was deputy governor during the absence of the latter in England from June, 1644 to June, 1645. He made his will in 1649, and his widow Elizabeth (whose maiden name is not known) married (secondly) Sir Thomas Lunsford, and after his death (thirdly) Major-General Robert Smith. He left no children, but there is a numerous Virginia family of his name descended from his nephew, Edmund Kemp.
