Whakakihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: Ko Kingsley te tuawha o nga tamariki tokorima o te Reverend Charles Kingsley me tana wahine a Mary; i whanau ia i Barnack, Northamptonshire i te 14 o Hui-tanguru 1826. Ko Charles Kingsley me te kaituhi a Henry Kingsley ona tuakana, a ko te kaituhi a Charlotte Chanter tana tuahine. I whakaakona ia i te Kura o King's College, London, i te Whare Wananga o Edinburgh, i puta ai ia i te M.D. i te tau 1846, i Paris hoki, i reira i werohia ai ia i te wa o te
nga arai o te tau 1848. I muri mai i te 1848, ko tana mahi ki te whawhai ki te pakarutanga o te mate pukupuku i Ingarangi i whakamaumaharahia e tana tuakana a Charles i te whakaahua a Tom Thurnall i "E rua Tau ki muri".