Joseph Kinsey entrepreneur

Sir Joseph James Kinsey (1852–1936) was a prominent businessman, collector, and philanthropist from Christchurch, New Zealand. Born in Plumstead near London, he attended the Royal Naval School. After marrying Sarah Ann Garrard in 1872 and having a daughter, May, in 1873, he taught at Dulwich College until 1880, when he emigrated to New Zealand on the Jessie Readman.

Settling in Christchurch, Kinsey founded Kinsey and Co., a shipping and insurance firm. He was a close friend of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, with whom he shared an intimate relationship reflected in Scott's diary entries. These pages were given to Kinsey before being sent to England.

A book collector, Kinsey amassed over 15,000 titles, often acquiring multiple copies of rare books to distribute to visitors and fellow enthusiasts. His contributions earned him the Scott Medal in 1914 and knighthood in 1919; he also received the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal in 1935.

Kinsey passed away on May 5, 1936, at his Christchurch home 'Warrimoo,' whereupon his ashes were interred after cremation in Wellington. His wife, Sarah Ann Kinsey, died five years later in 1941 and was buried at St Paul's Anglican Church in Papanui following her funeral at St Mary's Church.