Margaret (Kemble) Gage (1734 - 1824)

Born 1734 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, American Colonies

Ancestors

Wife of Thomas Gage — married 8 Dec 1758 in New Jersey, American Colonies

Descendants

Died 9 Feb 1824 at about age 90 in England

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Biography

Margaret Kemble was born in the colony of New Jersey to an immigrant father of half English and half Ottoman Greek ancestry. Her mother was from a prominent Dutch family in the colony of New York. On 8 Dec 1758 in New Jersey, well before the outbreak of revolution, Margaret married "The Honorable Brigadier General" Thomas Gage, who was the last Royal Governor of the colony of Massachusetts. By the time of the Revolutionary War, Gage was a Major General and commander in chief of the British military in the colonies.

Margaret and her husband lived in New York after their marriage and were socially quite prominent. Their marriage was said to be a close and happy one.

Margaret's family was of mixed sympathies during the Revolution. One of her brothers, Stephen, was a British captain and her husband's aide-de-camp. It is said that her father remained a loyalist all his life. Normally, this would have led to confiscation of property by the American cause, but the Kemble family avoided this, apparently by the expedient of Peter Kemble deeding all of his property to his son Richard, who was at least nominally supportive of American Independence.

There were rumors, however, that Margaret's support for the American cause went further. Despite being married to the man charged with putting down rebellion, Margaret may have passed information to revolutionaries. Suspicion fell on her during her lifetime, and by her husband's orders she was put aboard a ship bound for England in the summer of 1775. She was 41 years old at the time and was probably traveling with several small children. She never returned to her native land, living out the remainder of her life in England. No solid proof has ever been found, one way or the other, to establish the truth of whether or not she spied for the American cause. Her husband publicly professed not to suspect her of spying, however his private thoughts are unknowable. It is said that the marriage broke down after Margaret was forcibly sent to England, and the couple was estranged from that time onward.^[1]

A painting of her by John Singleton Copley survives in which she is dressed in "turquerie," which was a fashion of the time in both England and the colonies. Some art historians have speculated that Margaret's cousin Ann Edwards, who had grown up in Chios, where their paternal grandmothers were born, brought these clothes with her from Greece when she immigrated to New Jersey.

Margaret had at least eleven children (six sons and five daughters, though not all are presently known) by Thomas Gage. Her eldest child Henry inherited the title of Viscount Gage from his uncle. Her youngest surviving son, William Hall Gage, became an Admiral in the British Navy.

Margaret Gage of Dover St, St James Middlesex Her multi page will names daughters Maria Corsa, Lady Cranfeld, Louise Elizabeth Blak, and Emily Countress of Abington...and Harriet Gage. Spelling of surnames uncertain as source is the handwritten copy. She names grandchildren. 31 Aug 1821, 3rd Codicil 1 Aug 1822. Proved 21 Feb 1824 William Cooling appears in court at Fleet St, London. ^[2]

She died in England, 9 Feb 1824, aged 90, having outlived her husband by 36 years. Her place of burial is unknown.^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Paul Revere’s Ride
2. ↑ PROB 11: Will Registers 1823-1825 Piece 1681: Erskine, Quire Numbers 51-100 (1824)https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/5111/40611_310400-00459/668682
3. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/232899466/margaret-gage : accessed 08 November 2021), memorial page for Margaret Kemble Gage (1734–9 Feb 1824), Find A Grave: Memorial #232899466, citing St. Peter's Churchyard, West Firle, Lewes District, East Sussex, England ; Maintained by CMWJR (contributor 50059520) .

See Also:

• The Kemble Papers ... Escrito por Stephen Kemble, by Sir Henry Clinton p. xvii
• http://boston1775.blogspot.com/2011/05/margaret-gage-la-turque.html
• David Hackett Fischer, Paul Revere’s Ride. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.