Albert Kemp was born in Shoreditch in 1927 to a family of politically aware Eastenders. Kemp worked in the Admiralty for eleven years before joining the Home Office in 1961, where he entered the Immigration Service. He learned Turkish and was occasionally used as an interpreter and interviewer for political asylum claims. After he left the immigration service in 1971, he worked in the Statistical Department and the Drugs Branch. Shortly after retiring from the civil service, Kemp obtained a TEFL qualification and enjoyed teaching English to young foreign students. Once a keen sportsman, his main hobbies now are philately – particularly Turkish philately – and bowling.
