He was a son of Jean de Kerchove and Sabine della Faille d'Assenede, both descendants of Flemish nobility.
He started his political career under Dutch rule in 1822, when he became deputy delegate in the provincial council and as from 1829 as an effective member.
On the occasion of the municipality Council elections of 1836 in Ghent, he was on the Orangist list of the Société of the Amis the l'Ordre et du Repos Public, the Orangist list of among others Charles d'Hane Steenhuyse, Hippolyte Metdepenningen, Jean-Baptiste Minne-Barth and Joseph Van Crombrugghe.
Although during his rule, may crises hit the city, a number of public projects were completed which improved life in Ghent.
A number public works ensured the cleansing of the city and gave a first impetus to the elaboration of an urbanisation plan with long-term objectives, such as the municipal slaughterhouse and the Guislain Institute (psychiatry) and especially the establishment of an urban education network, which laid the foundation of the present public education system of the city.