Nathaniel Edward Kindersley (2 February 1763 – 16 February 1831) was an
English civil service officer to the
British East India Company. He is known for being the first translator of the
Tirukkural into English in 1794.[2]
Family
Nathaniel Edward Kindersley was born to Nathaniel Kindersley and
Jemima Wickstead at
Great Yarmouth,
Norfolk,
England. He married Hannah Butterworth on 3 July 1786 at
Tangernaikpuram,
Tamil Nadu,
India,[3] and they had two sons named Sir Richard Torin Kindersley (born 5 October 1792, died 22 October 1879)[4] and Nathaniel William Kindersley (born 1794, died 3 December 1844).[5]
Nathaniel Edward Kindersley published the first ever translation of the Tirukkural into English in a chapter titled 'Extracts from the Teroo-Vaulaver Kuddul, or, The Ocean of Wisdom' in his publication Specimens of Hindoo Literature in 1794. However, he translated only the first few chapters of
Book I of the Kural text in prose.[7]
Henry Davidson Love. (1913). Indian Records Series Vestiges of Old Madras 1640-1800 (4 vols.). New Delhi: Mittal Publications.
N. E. Kindersley. (1794). Specimens of Hindoo Literature: Consisting of Translations, from the Tamoul Language, of Some Hindoo Works of Morality and Imagination, with Explanatory Notes. London: W. Bulmer and Company (sold by F. Wingrave, successor to Mr. Nourse). 335 pp.