Explorer and Reformer. Coming from Barry (Angus), Kirk trained in medicine at the University of Edinburgh and then served in the Crimean War. He then joined David Livingstone for his Zambesi Expedition to Africa (1858 - 1864), setting out to promote 'commerce, christianity and civilisation', however he found Livingstone a dangerous and incompetent leader. He witnessed the appalling conditions of slavery maintained by Arab slave-traders, and on his appointment as British Consul in Zanzibar, used his influence to change attitudes and help abolish the practice.
Knighted in 1881, he retired to Kent, where he died.