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.

Kenney-Herbert Vegetarian and Simple Diet, 1908

Life

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

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

References
  1. Families of Co. Kerry, Ireland, Michael C. O'Laughlin, 1994, p. 77
  2. A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, fourth edition, Sir Bernard Burke, 1862, p. 686
  3. Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1929–30). Armorial Families. 2 (7th ed.). London: Hurst & Blackett. p. 1090.
  4. Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage. Kelly's Directories. 1884. p. 471.
  5. 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.
  6. Rugby School (1886). Rugby School Register, from 1675 to 1874 Inclusive: With Annotations and Alphabetical Index. A. J. Lawrence. p. 37.
  7. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/24471/page/3616/data.pdf
  8. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/24995/page/3451/data.pdf
  9. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/25530/page/5245/data.pdf
  10. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/26290/page/3074/data.pdf
  11. Office, Great Britain. India (1819). The India List and India Office List for ... Harrison and Sons. p. 538. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  12. David, Elizabeth (1970). Spices, Salt and Aromatics in the English Kitchen. Harmondsworth: Penguin. p. 169. ISBN 0140461639.
  13. Anonymous. (1905). Vegetarian and Simple Diet. The Lancet 1: 300.
  14. Leong-Salobir, Cecilia. (2011). Food Culture in Colonial Asia: A Taste of Empire. Routledge. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-415-60632-5
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