He was educated at Windlesham House School, Brighton (1885–88),[1] Haileybury and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated BA in 1896.

[2] He married Georgina Maude Bessie Fielding in Buenos Aires in 1908 and they had seven children, Peter, Anthony (Tony), Audrey.

He had become fascinated in the work of seamen and in 1899 volunteered to work under Harry O'Rouke running the Seaman's Institute in San Francisco then one of the toughest assignments because of the number and state of the seamen arriving after the stormy voyage around Cape Horn.

In early 1918 he came chaplain with the 22nd Northumberland Fusiliers when they were overrun in the German March offensive and in the interests of protecting his men he was taken into captivity[4] at the detention camp in Karlsruhe.

In that month Desmond Tutu, later to succeed Karney as bishop of Johannesburg, was born and the young Nelson Mandela was tending cattle in the hills above Qunu in the Transkei.

Tony was chaplain to the Church Railway Mission in South Africa and rector of Eythorne, Kent.