Born in Belgium, Malempre came to London by 1852 and is said to have worked, initially, with William Theed. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy and elsewhere from 1852 until 1885. As well as portrait busts, he also produced mythological, allegorical and sentimental figures and groups, over thirty of which were reproduced in parian porcelain by Staffordshire pottery firms, including Copeland.