Kinmonth was a tenant of Col Close, and a leading farmer. He lived in Deer Park, just outside the Drumbanagher wall (later the home of the Agnew family, including Dr Stanley Agnew) and was also Col Close’s agent for about 20 years.
By 1830, he was Vice-President and Secretary of the D&AFS, and one of the two principal judges in their annual ploughing match in March. Indeed, the Newry Telegraph report dated 26th March 1833 on the 12th annual meeting of the D&AFS specifically refers to him as the founder of the society. Fellow judges were other local notables of the time, Crozier Christy and John Bennet. Kinmonth is frequently mentioned in press of the 1840s and 1850s as a judge for other agricultural societies across Armagh and Down.
He was an early advocate of the use of cowshed slurry as a liquid manure. From the 1820s, he collected it in a large wooden-lined sunken tank and spread it on the land using a wheeled tank and sprinkler bar of his own design.
On April 16th, 1841, he invited his friends and business associates to the launch of his new small ship, The Catherine, 90 tons,[1] and named after his wife, built by Mr Sheals of Green Island, between Newry and Warrenpoint.
In the mid-1840’s he was one of those who submitted evidence to the Devon Commission of farm lease reform.
In the 1840s and 1850s, he served on the Board of Guardians of the Newry Union (poor house), under Col Close and Peter Quinn. In 1845, he was a member of the committee formed by Col Close and others to address the local problems caused by the failure of the potato crop. It also included John Bennet, Peter Quinn, and Crozier Christy.
In 1857, he wrote to Anthony Trollope (later famous as a novelist, but at the time Post Office Surveyor for the northern half of Ireland) protesting about how slow the post to and from Poyntzpass was. He suggested that trains should be used, rather than all Poyntzpass’s post being sent by road via Loughbrickland, where it sat from 8pm to 3pm the following day.
Also in 1857, he came second in the North-East Ireland Agricultural Association’s competition for the best-managed farm in Co Armagh. In the same year, he contributed one pound to the association’s fund to build a permanent show yard in Belfast.
In September 1860, he put Deer Park up for sale, including all crops, livestock and implements, but was still involved with the D&AFS in 1863. He retired to Annvale near Castleblaney, where he died on 20th June 1867, aged about 70.
[1] Tonnage does not refer to the ‘weight’ of a ship (equivalent to the weight of water it displaces) but rather is an estimate of the amount of cargo it can carry.