Sir Joseph James Kinsey (1852 – 5 May 1936) was a businessman, collector, and philanthropist from

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand. He was deeply connected to the Antarctic expeditions of Sir

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...

(1874–1922) and Captain

Robert Falcon Scott Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...

(1868–1912). Kinsey was born in

Plumstead Plumstead is an area in southeast London, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, England. It is located east of Woolwich. History Until 1965, Plumstead was in the historic counties of England, historic county of Kent and the detail of mu ...

near

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1852; at the time, his home town belonged to

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. He received his education at the

Royal Naval School The Royal Naval School was an England, English school that was established in Camberwell, London, in 1833 and then formally constituted by the Royal Naval College Act 1840. It was a Charitable cause, charitable institution, established as a board ...

near

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

. In 1872, he married Sarah Ann Garrard of London. He taught for eight years at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 independent, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

and resigned in 1880 to emigrate to New Zealand on the ''Jessie Readman''. They arrived at

Lyttelton Harbour Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō is one of two major inlets in Banks Peninsula, on the coast of Canterbury, New Zealand; the other is Akaroa Harbour on the southern coast. It enters from the northern coast of the peninsula, heading in a pred ...

on 22 October 1880. Kinsey settled in

and in 1880, he set up Kinsey and Co., shipping agents and insurance brokers. Kinsey was a very close friend to Robert Falcon Scott, and some of the last things that Scott wrote in his diary were to Kinsey. The two pages in Scott's journal were of such intimate nature that they were cut out and given to Kinsey before it was sent to England. Kinsey was a collector of books; he had a personal library of over 15,000 titles. When special books were published, he often bought between a half to a dozen of them, to then given them away to visitors or other book lovers. In the

1919 New Year Honours The 1919 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Times'' in Jan ...

, Kinsey was knighted for his contributions to the Antarctic expeditions. In 1935, he was awarded the

King George V Silver Jubilee Medal The King George V Silver Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession of King George V. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir by King George V to commemorate his Silver J ...

. Kinsey died on 5 May 1936 at his home 'Warrimoo' in Papanui Road in the Christchurch suburb of Merivale. His body was brought to

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, where he was cremated at Karori and his ashes interred at the adjoining cemetery. His wife died on 15 May 1941 at their home. Her funeral service was held at St Mary's Church in Merivale, and she was buried in the cemetery of St Paul's Anglican Church in

Papanui Papanui is a major suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is situated five kilometers to the northwest of the city centre. Papanui is a middle socio-economic area with a population of 3,645 consisting predominantly of Pākehā (NZ Eur ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinsey, Joseph James 1852 births 1936 deaths People educated at the Royal Naval School People from Christchurch Masters of Dulwich College New Zealand Knights Bachelor Burials at Karori Cemetery