Jemima Kindersley facts for kids

Jemima Kindersley (born Jemima Wickstead, 1741–1809) was an English writer who loved to travel. She is best known for her book, Letters from the Island of Teneriffe, Brazil, the Cape of Good Hope and the East Indies, which came out in 1777. This book shared her amazing journey and observations from faraway lands.

Her Life and Travels

Jemima Wickstead was born in Norwich, England, on October 2, 1741. She received a good education and enjoyed reading many books. In 1762, she married Colonel Nathaniel Kindersley in Great Yarmouth. He was part of the Bengal Artillery, a military group.

Jemima and Nathaniel had a son named Nathaniel Edward Kindersley, born in 1763. In June 1764, Jemima began a long sea journey to India. Her husband had already gone there. She stopped in places like Tenerife, Brazil, and South Africa along the way. She finally arrived in Pondicherry, India, in June 1765. Jemima lived in India until 1769. She later passed away in Bath, England, in 1809.

Her Published Works

Jemima Kindersley wrote about her long trip to India in 68 letters. These letters described her experiences, including five months she spent at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

In 1777, these letters were published as a book. It was called "Letters from the Island of Teneriffe, Brazil, the Cape of Good Hope and the East Indies by Mrs. Kindersley." The book cost 3 shillings and 6 pence at the time. Her letters are still important today because they give us a look into the past.

In 1781, Jemima also published a translation of a French book. It was called Essay on the Character, Manners and Understanding of Women. She added two of her own essays to this book.

Her Views on India

Jemima Kindersley's letters give us valuable information about India in the mid-1700s. This was a time of big change in India. The power was shifting from the Mughal Empire to the growing British presence. Jemima observed all these changes and wrote about them. Her letters help us understand a period that doesn't have many other written records.

First Impressions of India

When Jemima first arrived in India, she landed in Pondicherry. The city had just been through a war, and she was shocked by its condition. She also found Patna to be "miserable." She spent most of her time in Allahabad. Her letters about Allahabad show different feelings. She wrote about the colorful Mughal military parades. She also noted their power was decreasing. She described a holy man (fakir) near the Ganges River. He was so sad remembering his mother that he stayed by her burial mound, even in heavy rain.

British Rule and Indian Society

Jemima Kindersley had different ideas than some other Europeans. Some admired India's spiritual knowledge. However, Kindersley believed that British rule was necessary to "save" India. This idea was sometimes called the "white man's burden." She thought the British were helping India.

She wrote that Hindus were "superstitious" and followed strict caste rules. She also described merchants as greedy. She felt that many Indian people were not active enough. Her letters also mentioned the Rajputs and Marathas as "fighting castes." She noted the "banias" (traders) who helped connect people because they knew some English.

Economic Life and Travel

Jemima observed that most Indians worked in weaving. She said the best muslin cloth was made in Dacca (now Dhaka, Bangladesh). She noticed how slow the work was. She also saw that the workers, mostly men, needed a lot of patience. Her letters also talked about the different qualities of cloth. Some were made for the Emperor, and others for Europeans or common people.

Jemima also wrote about how people traveled in India. She took many journeys by river. She traveled from Calcutta to Patna and then to Allahabad on "budgerows." These were long, spacious boats used on the Ganges River after the rainy season. In the summer, people preferred to travel in palanquins, which were like covered beds carried by people.

Women's Lives in India

Jemima Kindersley was very interested in the lives of women in India. She even translated a French book about women's roles in different times. She wrote about the luxurious but restricted lives of "Muhammedan women in seraglio." This referred to women living in special private areas.

While in India, she was able to visit these private women's quarters, called the zennanah. Her letters described these spaces as luxurious but not admirable. She wrote that women there were "confined from public view." They also had no knowledge of the outside world. She believed that Hindu women were also forced to live a similar life.