His Honour John Patrick Kimmins was born in Townsville in 1925. He attended Theodore State School (outside of Rockhampton) and then Nudgee College after the family moved to Brisbane. He left Nudgee at 15 and gained employment in the Public Service as a Clerk. During this time he enrolled in night school and studied the equivalent of years 11 and 12 in the one year.

In 1942 at the age of 17, he enrolled in the Royal Australian Navy and was mobilised in late 1942. He was stationed in Australia and New Guinea. After the war, Kimmins remained in the Navy for a further three years.

In 1948 he began studying a Bachelor of Laws Degree at the University of Queensland and graduated in 1951. He was admitted to the bar in 1952. In 1976 he was appointed a District Court Judge and retired in 1995 after reaching the mandatory retirement age. He died on March 20 2012.