Jemima Kindersley
Jemima Kindersley née Wickstead (1741–1809) was an English travel writer, noted for her Letters from the Island of Teneriffe, Brazil, the Cape of Good Hope and the East Indies (1777).[1]
Life
Jemima Wickstead was born in Norwich on 2 October 1741. She was well educated and widely read.[2] She married Colonel Nathaniel Kindersley, of the Bengal Artillery, in 1762 at Great Yarmouth. They had a son, Nathaniel Edward Kindersley (1763-1831). She set sail for India in June 1764, her husband having traveled there earlier, and arrived in Pondicherry in June 1765, stopping along the way in Tenerife, Brazil and South Africa.[2] She stayed in India until 1769, and died in Bath in 1809.[1]
Writings
Kindersley wrote an account of her long voyage to India, including five months at the Cape of Good Hope, in the form of 68 letters. These were published in 1777 by John Nourse under the title of "Letters from the Island of Teneriffe, Brazil, the Cape of Good Hope and the East Indies by Mrs. Kindersley", at the price of 3s 6d.[3]
These letters were republished as volume 5 of the 8-volume Women's Travel Writing, 1750-1850 edited by Caroline Franklin (Routledge, 2000: ISBN 9780415320344)[4] and included in Routledge's online resource History of Feminism.[5]
In 1781 she published a translation of Antoine Léonard Thomas's work as Essay on the Character, Manners and Understanding of Women, including two of her own essays.[1][6]
Response to writings
In 1778 the Reverend Henry Hodgson published Letters to Mrs. Kindersley, described as "animadverting upon portions of that lady's "Letters from the Island of Teneriffe," etc." [7]
References
- Barros, Carolyn A.; Smith, Johanna M. (2000). "Jemima Kindersley". Life-writings by British Women, 1660-1815: An Anthology. UPNE. p. 176. ISBN 9781555534325. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
- Kishwar, Shantanu (28 April 2019). "The forgotten letters of Jemima Kindersley". The Hindu. Chennai: Kasturi & Sons. pp. Magazine (page 20). Retrieved 1 May 2019.
- "Newspaper advertisement reproduced". The Travel Letters of Mrs. Kindersley. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
- "Women's Travel Writing, 1750-1850". Routledge. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
- "Letters from the Island of Teneriffe ..." Routledge Historical Resources. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
- "Catalogue record for "An essay on the character ..."". COPAC. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
- "Catalogue record for "Letters to Mrs Kindersley ..."". COPAC. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
External links
- The Travel Letters of Mrs. Kindersley Website including full text of 68 letters, and biographical information some of which is based on A History of the Kindersley Family by Arthur Fasken Kindersley, printed for private circulation, October, 1938, pp. 89–100.