Stephen's sister, Sarah Siddons, was the first London actor of repute to break through the prejudice which regarded summer " strolling", or starring in the provincial theatres, as a degradation.

While in Newcastle upon Tyne Kemble lived in a large house opposite the White Cross in Newgate Street.

He ran a temporary theatre nearby at the head of Leith Walk 1793/4 under the title of "circus" before securing long-term lease in 1794[7] and he held this until 1800 although with an interval created by Harriet Pye Esten.

For a short time in 1792, actor Charles Lee Lewes assisted Stephen Kemble in the management of the Dundee Repertory Theatre He supported the careers of many leading actors of the time such as Master Betty, his wife Elizabeth Satchell, his sister Elizabeth Whitlock, George Frederick Cooke, Charlotte Wattell, Harriet Pye Esten, John Edwin, Joseph Munden, Grist, Elizabeth Inchbald, Pauline Hall, Wilson, Charles Incledon, Egan.

"[17] Kemble would return to play Falstaff in London at Covent Garden (1806) and the Drury Lane (1816), for which he received great acclaim.

"[19] Taylor writes about Kemble's commitment to address injustice through theatre: "All characters of an open, blunt nature, and requiring a vehement expression of justice and integrity, particularly those exemplifying an honest indignation against vice, he delivered in so forcible a manner, as to show.

This manner was very successfully displayed in his representation of the Governor, Sir Christopher Curry, in the opera of Inkle and Yarico.

"[20] Taylor writes of Kemble's reputation in the provincial theatre circuit: "Stephen Kemble, who was an accurate observer of human life, and an able delineater of character and manners, was so intelligent and humorous a companion, that he was received with respect into the best company in the several provincial towns, which he occasionally visited in the exercise of his profession.

The European Magazine, and London Review reported that at its debut "the whole [play] went off without opposition, and its repetition, was received with applause.

"[29] An essay of his entitled "In the Character of Touchstone, Riding on an Ass" was published by William Oxberry in his book The Actor's Budget (1820).

[30] He was a close friend of another famous Durham resident, the 3 ft 3 inch tall Polish dwarf, Józef Boruwłaski.

When these two friends - one little and one large - strolled along the wooded paths of the city, they were reported to be an interesting sight for the people of Durham.

His close friend Józef Boruwłaski is buried at the west end of the cathedral's nave, beneath the north-west tower.