Person record for Kenney, James

Kenney, James

Diary Appearances
Biographical Details
Editorial Notes
Bibliography
Acquaintances

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This person is mentioned in the diary a total of 388 times, but was not at home (N) 22 times, and was a venue (V) 95 times.

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Name: Kenney, James
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 1780
Death Date: 25 July 1849
Occupation: playwright

Husband of Louisa - nee Mercier, previously married to Holcroft. The first entry, 24.August 1811, 'call on Lamb ; adv. L and V Ht and Kenny:', is supported by the presence of Lamb - who was close friends with Kenney according to the DNB and E.V. Lucas, The Life of Charles Lamb - as well as Louisa Holcroft, whom Kenney was to marry on 5.3.1812. 10.11.1813 'Kenney dines; adv. Lbs and H Robinson' is corroborated by Crabb Robinson's diary - 'called and supped with Godwin. The Lambs were there .... Kenney was there' (qu. Lucas, p. 419). This is interesting because it possibly affects our reading of what an adv signifies: it appears that Crabb Robinson had not been invited for supper, happened to call but then did stay for supper. The Kenneys spent time in France, about which the DNB is rather vague - 'after his marriage to Louisa, Kenney lived for several years in St Valéry-sur-Somme'. The Kennys appear in virtually every year of the diary from 1811 and, without evidence of anyone else of the same name or more details of their time in France we have ignored the DNB's suggestion of a continued period living abroad and have assumed they were in France for only a few months at a time or that they moved to France for a more extended period only after Godwin had died. There is evidence of shorter stays in France: Crabb Robinson records meeting them in Paris on 19.8.1822 when they were'just arrived' (qu. Lucas, p. 604), which is at the beginning of an eight month absence from G's diary. Similarly, there is a letter from Lamb to the Kenneys in France dated October 1826 (see William Carew Hazlitt, The Lambs: their lives, their friends, and their correspondence) and the Kenneys disappear from the diary between October 1826 and April 1827. There is a similar six month absence in some other years, suggesting that they were spending some winters in France, perhaps because of Kenney's health (see DNB and Lucas). Other possible inaccuracies in the DNB entry are noted in the entry on Louisa Holcroft. 'L Kenney's' has been lcoded as referring soley to Louisa. . While it is not impossible that James Kenney is present, the fact that there are so few 'L Kenney's' entries compared to a significant number of 'Kenney's' entries (approx 50), suggests that Godwin is distinguishing between the couple and her on her own.

DNB
E.V. Lucas, The Life of Charles Lamb, 2 vols (1905, 7th edn. London: Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1921)
William Carew Hazlitt, The Lambs; their lives, their friends and their correspondence; new particulars and new material (London, 1897)

This table lists the people this person is most frequently noted with in the diary.

Name	Number of Meetings
Holcroft, Louisa (née Mercier)	105
Godwin, Mary Jane (Clairmont) (née de Vial)	31
Godwin, William	30
Lamb, Charles	19
Holcroft, Thomas	18
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft (née Godwin)	17
Lamb, Mary Anne	14
Morton, Thomas	14
Poole, John	9
Morton, John Maddison	8
Morton, Edw	8
Pilcher,	8
Reynolds, Elizabeth (née Mansel)	7
Imlay, Fanny (Godwin)	7
Curran, John Philpot	7
Reynolds, Frederick	7
Holcroft, Fanny Margaretta	6
Rogers, Samuel	6
Marshall, James	6
Pickersgill, Henry William	6
Holcroft, Louisa	5
Curran, William Henry	5
Lubé, Denis George	4
Clairmont, Charles	4
Robinson, Henry Crabb	4
Badams, John	4
Curran, Amelia	3
Knowles, John	3
Hume, Alexia	3
Hazlitt, William	3
Booth, David	3
Ayrton, William	3
Reynolds, Richard	3
Clairmont, Clara Mary Jane (Claire)	3
Hume, Joseph	3
Cunningham, Allan (Hidallan)	2
Mulready, William	2
Alsager, Thomas Massa	2
Cooper, Thomas (Abthorpe)	2
Baxter Family,	2
Mercier, Charles André	2
Elwes, Sarah	2
Burney, Martin Charles	2
Landseer, Charles	2
Botwright,	2
Williams, Jane (Mrs Hogg)	1
Novello, Vincent	1
Johnson, Joseph	1
Carlisle, Sir Anthony	1
Irving, Washington	1
Lytton, Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer (first Baron Lytton)	1
Wroughton, Richard (Rotten)	1
Shepherd, Lady Mary (née Primrose)	1
Cole,	1
Angelo, Henry Charles William	1
Collier, John Dyer	1
Payne, John Howard	1
Mergez, Georges Nicholas	1
Westmacott, Richard	1
Picken, Andrew	1
Turner, Joseph Mallord William	1
Collier, John Payne	1
Wilson,	1
Brockedon, William	1
Fraser,	1
Hazlitt, John	1
Murray, John Samuel	1
Reynolds, Frederic Mansel	1
Wordsworth, William	1
White, James	1
Stewart, Charles	1
Talfourd, Sir Thomas Noon (Talford)	1
Carlyle, John Aitken (Jack)	1
Carlyle, Thomas	1
Holcroft, Sophia (Cole)	1
Dawe, George	1
Hudson, John Corrie	1
Booth, Junius Brutus	1
Montagu, Basil	1
Kemble, Maria Theresa (née De Camp)	1
Plumptre, Annabella (Bell)	1
Manning, Thomas	1
Fairley, John	1
Northcote, James	1
Mackintosh, Sir James (of Kyllachy)	1
Chalmers, Alexander	1
Hammond, Elton (Hamond)	1
Wolcot, Dr John (pseudonym Peter Pindar)	1
Owen, Robert	1
Aldis, Lady Mary Frances (née Berridge)	1
Aldis, Charles	1
Morgan, John	1
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor	1
Reynolds, Richard	1
Newton, John Frank	1
White,	1
Hamilton,	1
Collier, Jane (Payne)	1
Hogan,	1
Knapp, Leonora	1
Miller,	1
Knowles, James Sheridan	1
Taylor, John	1
Uwins, David	1
King, John (Jacob Rey)	1
Godwin, Nathaniel	1
Phillips, Sir Richard (Philip Richards)	1
Kean, Edmund	1

Kenney, James

1801

1811

1812

1813

1814

1815

1816

1817

1818

1819

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1821

1822

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1836