Mainly a figure painter, he was born in the Nottingham area, was educated at Sedbergh School and then at the Slade School of Fine Art. Kirby showed extensively in mixed exhibitions, including RA, NEAC, ROI, Chenil and Goupil Galleries and in Nottingham. In the 1940s he developed arthritis, which around the end of World War prevented him from painting, about which he became bitter. Although he had been left some money, he is said to have died virtually penniless. Lived from 1929 at Stansted, Essex, building a studio at his cottage, where he completed much locally commissioned work. In 1980 Sparrow’s Gallery, in Bishop’s Stortford, showed Kirby’s work, part of a local characters exhibition. Kirby’s picture Old Regent Street was included in Christie’s NEAC centenary exhibition in 1986, lent by Bradford Art Gallery and Museum.