Friday, March 17, 2023

Edith Mary Kemp-Welch (1870–1941) was a British artist - portrait painter.

Edith Kemp-Welch was born in 1970 in Christchurh, Hampshire, UK.  Her parents were Edwin B. Kemp Welch, a solicitor, and his wife, Elizabeth Welch, nee Oakes.  Edith grew up in Bournemouth and attended the Bournemouth School of Art. 

In 1892, Edith enrolled at the art school founded by Hubert von Herkomer at Bushey in Hertfordshire. Edith continued living in Bushey and her elder sister, the artist Lucy Kemp-Welch, took over the running of the Herkomer school.  Between 1898 and 1940, Edith Kemp-Welch exhibited a total of 29 paintings at the Royal Academy in London – these were mostly portraits but also included at last one landscape.  The girls’ cousin Margaret Kemp-Welch (1874–1968) was also an artist.

 During the First World War, both Edith and her sister Lucy produced recruiting posters for the British war effort. The poster created by Edith Kemp-Welch featured an image of Britannia with the slogan "Remember Scarborough ! Enlist Now", a reference to the war-time attack on Scarborough.  


The Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 16 December 1914 was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British ports of Scarborough, Hartlepool, West Hartlepool and Whitby. The bombardments caused hundreds of civilian casualties and resulted in public outrage in Britain against the German Navy for the raid and the Royal Navy for failing to prevent it.