Arthur Robert Kenney-Herbert
Brigadier-General Arthur Robert Kenney-Herbert (1840–1916) was a British soldier who served in the British Indian Army, and wrote on cooking.
Life
[edit]He was the son of the Rev. Arthur Robert Kenney (1805–1884), son of Arthur Henry Kenney and rector of Bourton-on-Dunsmore, and his wife Mary Louise Palmer. Rev. Arthur Robert Kenney changed his name in later life to Arthur Robert Kenney-Herbert, his mother, Mary Lusinda, being daughter of Robert Herbert, of that family of Castle Island, a branch of that of Muckross, County Kerry, where the Herbert family, originally from Wales, had been settled since the 1600s. Of this family were the Anglo-Irish politician Henry Arthur Herbert, whose namesake grandson was also a politician, and the Royal Navy officer Thomas Herbert.[1][2][3][4][5]
Kenney-Herbert entered Rugby School in 1855 as Arthur Robert Kenney.[6] He served in the Indian Army from age 19. A cornet in 1859, he served in the Madras Cavalry, having arrived in India on 31 October of that year. He reached the rank of major in 1875,[7] at this rank serving as deputy assistant quartermaster general at Madras until 1881,[8] then as military secretary to the governor of Madras from 1881 to 1884. In 1885, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in the Madras Cavalry.[9] He retired in 1892 with the rank of colonel.[10][11] He died on 5 March 1916 at 19a Sinclair Gardens, West Kensington, London.
Kenney-Herbert wrote regular articles about Indian cookery for The Madras Mail, Madras Atheneum and The Daily News, using the pen-name Wyvern. These were collected and published in 1878 as Culinary Jottings for Madras, Or, A Treatise in Thirty Chapters on Reformed Cookery for Anglo-Indian Exiles, which went through seven editions. Upon retiring from the army and returning to England, he started a cookery school – the Common-sense Cookery Association – in June 1894. Its premises were at 17 Sloane Street in London.[12]
Kenney-Herbert was not a vegetarian, but he did author the cookbook Vegetarian and Simple Diet in 1904. The book espouses ovo-lacto vegetarian recipes. It was positively reviewed in The Lancet journal, which noted that "we are glad to welcome the appearance of a book which will teach householders that appetising dishes can be made from vegetables with the aid of eggs and milk products."[13]
Kenney-Herbert was fond of kedgeree. His recipe consisted of boiled rice, chopped boiled egg, cold minced fish that is heated with herbs, pepper and salt.[14]
Family
[edit]Kenney-Herbert married Agnes Cleveland, daughter of General John Wheeler Cleveland. Arthur Cleveland Herbert Kenney-Herbert of the Northants Regiment was their son.[5]
Selected publications
[edit]- Culinary Jottings for Madras (1878)
- Sweet Dishes (1884)
- Vegetarian and Simple Diet (1904)
- Common-Sense Cookery for English Households (1905)
References
[edit]- ^ Families of Co. Kerry, Ireland, Michael C. O'Laughlin, 1994, p. 77
- ^ A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, fourth edition, Sir Bernard Burke, 1862, p. 686
- ^ Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1929–30). Armorial Families. Vol. 2 (7th ed.). London: Hurst & Blackett. p. 1090.
- ^ Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage. Kelly's Directories. 1884. p. 471.
- ^ a b Burke, Bernard; Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1912). "A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Ireland". Internet Archive. London: Harrison. p. 314. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
- ^ Rugby School (1886). Rugby School Register, from 1675 to 1874 Inclusive: With Annotations and Alphabetical Index. A. J. Lawrence. p. 37.
- ^ London Gazette issue 24471
- ^ London Gazette issue 24995
- ^ London Gazette issue 25530
- ^ London Gazette issue 26290
- ^ Office, Great Britain. India (1819). The India List and India Office List for ... Harrison and Sons. p. 538.
- ^ David, Elizabeth (1970). Spices, Salt and Aromatics in the English Kitchen. Harmondsworth: Penguin. p. 169. ISBN 0140461639.
- ^ Anonymous. (1905). Vegetarian and Simple Diet. The Lancet 1: 300.
- ^ Leong-Salobir, Cecilia. (2011). Food Culture in Colonial Asia: A Taste of Empire. Routledge. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-415-60632-5