Her brother Francis died in a tragic drowning accident on Lough Corrib in August 1887. Her surviving brother, Captain Richard Kinkead, R.A.M.C., was killed in action at Ypres on 30 October 1914.
While in Corsica in 1921, Alice Kinkead befriended the writer, Joseph Conrad. This friendship led to her painting his last portrait in 1924, shortly before his death.