1844 Born Philip Henry Kirby in Limerick, Ireland
1849 Father Philip Kirby dies in Limerick
1853 Mother Mary Kirby nee Blake marries Stephen Sherwin in Australia
1855 Arrives in Melbourne with older brother William Kirby from Plymouth
1860 older sister Catherine marries John Washington Smith, to whom Phil Kirby becomes an agent.
1861 Stephen Sherwin dies in a Lunatic Asylum in Victoria
1862 Mother Mary dies in Australia
1865 December – Kirby arrives in Yokohoma from Shanghai
1867 February Meets John Washington Smith and Thomas Lenton in Hong Kong, goes to Japan with Lenton to procure performers.
1867 April/June – left with Lenton and performers (The Great Dragon Troupe ) for Shanghai on The Ganges. Travels on to Hong Kong, Manila, Singapore, Java, Rangoon, Calcutta to September 1867
1867 October – Penang then on to Point de Galle.
1867 December – arrive in Melbourne on the Avoca – 11 Japanese, Mr & Mrs Smith, Mr & Mrs Lenton, Mr Ferrari, Mr Kirby and Mr Herbert. Troupe tour Australasia to February 1869
1869 March – leaves for Shanghai on the Huntly Castle with Great Dragon Troupe.
1869 October – helping to organise Japanese troupe in Japan for John Washington Smith and Lyster with the assistance of Isokichi. Does not happen.
1869 November – erects a building in Yokohama to audition troupes from Osaka and Hyogo for a 2 year tour of China, Java, India and Australia. The spectators included Isokichi, Gengero and Katsujiro.
1869 December – arrives back in Australia from Japan
1870 January – agent for a minstrel troupe
1874 October – Mr. P. H. Kirby, the late agent for Mr Smith’s troupe, will leave Dunedin, New Zealand, for Manilla, with a troupe consisting of the De Castro family.
1875 “after some years being connected with Mr Smith as business manager and agent in advance, is about starting on his own account”. Leaves for California. Becomes agent for Maguire.
1876 Arrived in Melbourne from Sydney “Mr Smith’s agent”. Meanwhile Lyster has found some operatic performers in Italy.
1877 John Washington Smith dies
1878 in San Francisco
1881 known as “the lightning dramatic agent” in San Francisco
1883 has arrived in California from Japan in charge of a troupe of performing Japs and a number of curios assigned to Barnum.
1886 had been acting as Barnum’s agent in India and the East.
1886 March – Royal Tycoon Troupe are in Bombay. Kirby mentions advertising them in Bombay. Is in Bombay November – December 1886 with his show Fun on the Bristol
1886 marries Miriam Alma Alleyne-Fernleigh in Australia
1926 dies in Brunswick, Victoria aged 82
Ninjin 