Kynaston was born at
Oteley Park, near
Ellesmere,
Shropshire, the eldest son of
Sir Edward Kynaston and his wife Isobel Bagenal, daughter of Sir
Nicholas Bagenal. His father was
High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1599. On 11 December 1601 Kynaston matriculated at
Oriel College, Oxford. He graduated B.A. from
St Mary Hall on 14 June 1604 and M.A. at Oxford on 11 November 1611. He was called to the bar at
Lincoln's Inn in 1611. He was knighted by James I at
Theobalds on 21 December 1618. In 1621 Kynaston was elected
Member of Parliament for
Shropshire. Believed to have been cupbearer to
James I, he became
esquire of the body by 1624 and continued to hold the post under
Charles I until 1642. At court Kynaston was the centre of a literary coterie. In 1635 he founded an
academy of learning, called the Musæum Minervæ, for which he obtained a licence under the great seal, a grant of arms, and a common seal; Charles also contributed from the treasury. On 27 February 1636
Prince Charles, the
Duke of York, and others visited the museum, and a
masque by Kynaston, entitled
Corona Minervæ, was performed in their presence. In July of the same year Sir George Peckham bequeathed money to the institution. At this time, Kynaston was living at
Covent Garden in London. The Musaeum, which was beset by plagues in 1635 and 1637, financial difficulties and opposition from the universities and Inns of Court, closed by 1639. Its site was marked by Kynaston's Alley, Bedfordbury. but letters of administration for his estate were granted to his son Edward in 1649. Kynaston married, firstly, Margaret Lee, daughter of
Sir Humphry Lee, 1st Baronet of Langley, in 1613. They had one son, Edward (c. 1613 – 1656), and four daughters - Frances (b. 1612), Rachel, Ann (d. 1642) and Barbara (d. 1619). Margaret died in 1623, following which he married Margaret, sister of Charles Mainwaring. The couple had no children and she survived Kynaston, dying in 1661. ==Works==