Quick Facts
Biography
Nathaniel Edward Kindersley (born 2 February 1763; died February 1831) was a civil service officer to the British East India Company. He is known as the first translator of the Tirukkural into English in 1794.
Family
Nathaniel Edward Kindersley was born to Nathaniel Kindersley and Jemima Wicksteed at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. He married Hannah Butterworth on 3 July 1786 at Tangernaikpuram, Tamil Nadu, India, and they had two sons named Sir Richard Torin Kindersley (born 5 October 1792, died 22 October 1879) and Nathaniel William Kindersley (born 1794, died 3 December 1844).
He died on 16 February 1831 at the age of 68 at Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England.
Works
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.