Keith Edward Kissack MBE (18 November 1913 – 31 March 2010) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

schoolteacher and historian. He is notable for his many publications on the history of

Monmouth Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...

and

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

Life

Kissack was born in

Clun Clun is a town in south west Shropshire, England, and the Shropshire Hills AONB, Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The 2011 United Kingdom census, census recorded 680 people living in the town.Combined populations for the t ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, to Rev. Bernard Kebble Kissack and Caroline Keith-Murray. His mother was a descendant of the Murray of Blackbarony family of Scotland, Edmund Murray Dodd, a leading figure in

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in the mid 19th Century, and David Mathews, the

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under the British during the

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. Kissack attended

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where he was a member of the school

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team in 1931 and 1932. He later attended St Mark and St John's College, Chelsea, where he trained as a teacher. He married Audrey Winifred Jones, of Monmouth in 1939, and daughter Bethia was born in 1940. He achieved the rank of captain in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, serving in North Africa, Sicily and Italy, where he was wounded. After the

, his second daughter Hermione was born in 1946. Kissack taught in Monmouth, becoming headmaster of Priory Street School. He served on Monmouth Town Council, and was a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

who chaired the local bench. He was also Curator of the Monmouth Museum, worked with the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers to create their museum at Castle House, and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.Keith Kissack, ''Monmouth and its Buildings'', Logaston Press, 2003, , p.viii and cover He was made MBE in 1976.''London Gazette'', Issue 47102, 30 December 1976, p.15
/ref> In the Preface to the third volume of the ''Gwent County History'', published the year before Kissack's death, the General Editor Ralph A. Griffiths described him as "the doyen among historians of Monmouth".

Works

His major publications, excluding journal articles, included: Keith Kissack books at WorldCat
Accessed 24 January 2012 * ''The Trivial Round: Life in Monmouth, 1830-1840'' (1955) * ''The Inns and Friendly Societies of Monmouth'' (with E.T.Davies, 1963, revised 1981) * ''The Formative Years: the rise of Monmouth under its Breton lords, 1075-1257'' (1969) * ''Mediaeval Monmouth'' (1974) * ''Monmouth: the Making of a County Town'' (1975) * ''The River Wye'' (1978) * ''The River Severn'' (1982) * ''Victorian Monmouth'' (1984) * ''Monmouth and its Buildings'' (1991, revised 2003) * ''Haberdashers Monmouth School for Girls'' (1992) * ''Monmouth School and Monmouth, 1614-1995'' (1995) * ''The Lordship, Parish and Borough of Monmouth'' (1996) * ''The Schools in the Priory'' (1999) * ''Home Front Monmouth'' (2000) * ''Monmouth during the First War'' (with Betty Williams, 2001) * ''Monmouth Priory'' (with David Williams et al., 2001)

Notes

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kissack, Keith 1913 births 2010 deaths British people of Canadian descent British people of Dutch descent Members of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London History of Monmouthshire Writers from Shropshire People from Clun People from Monmouth, Wales Schuyler family Schoolteachers from Shropshire British military personnel of World War II Military personnel from Shropshire