He was born in County Donegal in Ireland, the son of farmer Thomas Kilpatrick and Esther, née Wilson.
He arrived in Victoria in July 1874 and quickly moved to the Goulburn Valley, where he farmed dairy cattle until 1890.
After moving to the Riverina district and buying a property at Oaklands he married Fanny Pyke in 1899, with whom he had three children.
In 1920, Kilpatrick was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as a Progressive member for Murray.
Likewise two of his brothers also have streets with the Kilpatrick name commemorating them, Richard in Shepparton, Victoria and Thomas in Mareeba, Nth Queensland.