Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Kinsey, William Morgan
KINSEY, WILLIAM MORGAN (1788–1851), divine and traveller, born in 1788 at Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, was son of Robert Morgan Kinsey, solicitor and banker at Abergavenny, and Caroline Hannah, his wife, daughter of Sir James Harington, bart. He matriculated at Oxford on 28 Nov. 1805, became a scholar of Trinity College, graduated B.A. in 1809, and proceeded M.A. in 1813. In 1815 he was elected a fellow of his college, dean in 1822, vice-president in 1823, and bursar in 1824. In 1822 he proceeded to the degree of B.D. In 1827 Kinsey made a tour in Portugal with the intention of making the country better known to the English people. From his journals and a series of letters written to his friend Thomas Haynes Bayly [q. v.], as well as from historical and other sources, Kinsey compiled a book, which appeared in 1828 under the title of ‘Portugal Illustrated.’ The work excited some little interest as a good account of the country, and was well illustrated with engravings by G. Cooke and Skelton, from drawings chiefly made by a companion during his tour. It was dedicated to Lord Auckland, to whom Kinsey was chaplain, and a second edition appeared in 1829. In 1830 Kinsey was travelling with Viscount Alford in Belgium, and, happening to be at Brussels at the outbreak of the revolution in August of that year, was an eye-witness of the conflict between the troops and the populace. About 1832 he was appointed minister of St. John's Church, Cheltenham, where he obtained some repute as a preacher, and published a few sermons. In 1843 he was appointed rector of Rotherfield Greys, Oxfordshire, where he resided until his death on 6 April 1851. He was the author of a few other pamphlets, and in January 1848 contributed a paper to the ‘Gentleman's Magazine’ entitled ‘Random Recollections of a Visit to Walton Hall.’
[Gent. Mag. 1851, new ser. xxxvi. 95; Foster's Alumni Oxon.; Kinsey's Portugal Illustr.]