In 1795 aged 20 Kinloch inherited a slave plantation named "The Grange" in Jamaica from his uncle, which he sold by 1804.

[2] Kinloch purchased what is now Carnoustie from a Major Philip in 1808 for 11000 pounds and promoted development by starting a brickworks and providing grants for prospective residents who wished to take up feus.

[4] His involvement with mass meetings in 1817 and 1819 agitating for Parliamentary reform attracted less favorable attention, and he was forced to flee to France and was declared an outlaw.

He died in London two months after the start of Parliament; his body was brought back to Scotland for burial at the Kinloch Chapel at Meigle.

They had eight children: George (1800–1881); John (1802–1828); Cecilia (1797–1879); Margaret (died 1830); Helen (c. 1799–1823); Ann (c. 1801–1865); Eliza (c. 1804–1822); and Jemima Joanna (d.