Peter Kemp was one of seven Australians who each won the World Sculling Championship (Professional) between 1876 and 1905. He was born on the banks of the Hawkesbury River near Windsor, New South Wales, on 15 November 1853. As a boy growing up he taught himself to row. In 1873 he and his brother Thomas won a double sculls race of four miles in a time of thirty-three minutes.