Clan Kincaid - Other Notable Kincaids

Other Notable Kincaids

• Sir John Kincaid gained international recognition for his personal accounts of battles fought during the Napoleon War and in particular for his vivid recollections of the historic Battle of Waterloo; published as Adventures in the Rifle Brigade and Random Shots from a Rifleman. As acting adjutant at Waterloo, his battalion stood almost in the centre of Wellington's line and was engaged in the most intensive fighting of the battle.

• John Henry Kinkead, of Somerville, Pennsylvania was the third Governor of the State of Nevada, USA and the first Governor of the then District of Alaska, USA.

• The 20th century saw several Kincaids develop significant inventions. John W. Kincaid is credited with being the inventor of the first automatic locomotive stoker at Hinton, West Virginia, USA. Geoffrey R. Kinkead, of Providence, Rhode Island, USA, is credited with developing the percussion cap used in detonating hand grenades in World War I. Captain Earl H. Kincaid, of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, USA, was credited with inventing the Navy Static recording machine, a forerunner of radar.

• Flight-Lieutenant Samuel Marcus Kinkead, D.S.O., D.S.C., D.F.C., was a World War I ace and high-speed aircraft pioneer. He died on 12 March 1928, attempting to break the air speed record of 297 miles per hour in a Supermarine Napier S5 airplane at Calshot Aerodrome, Great Britain and was greatly mourned by the nation.

• Thomas Harold "Doc" Kinkade, of Wyckoff, New Jersey, gained international attention for his role in the first transatlantic flights as service engineer for the Wright Aeronautical Corporation. He was most noted for preparing the Wright Whirlwind motors used in Charles Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Louis" and Commander Richard E. Byrd's "America."

• Admiral Thomas Cassin Kinkaid led the United States Seventh Fleet through the major sea and island battles of World War II. His most notable achievement was at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid defeated a large Japanese fleet at the Surigao Strait, using only a makeshift fleet of PT boats, converted freighters, destroyers and carrier escort ships.

• John F. Kincaid, working at The National Defence Research Committee's Explosives Research Laboratory, invented a method of making large grains of rocket propellant. This important advance allowed the manufacture of solid fuelled rockets that were pivotal in the American intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and space programs. Solid fuel helped put the first Americans in space and would come to propel America's nuclear ICBM arsenal.

• Today the most identifiable Kincaid is Thomas Kinkade, 'Painter of Light.' He enjoys widespread commercial success for his artwork.