KIRKPATRICK, William. Ireland (?) 1754 — Exeter 22.8.1812. British (Irish) Colonial Officer in India. Son of Colonel James K. (1739–1818) of Madras Cavalry, and Katherine Monro. Himself became cadet in 1771 and 1773 joined the Bengal Infantry. He was Persian Interpreter to General Stibbert, the Commander in Chief in Bengal in 1777-85, then Resident in Gwalior and in 1791-92 Persian Interpreter with Lord Cornwallis in Mysore war. He was the first British to visit Nepal (Kathmandu) in 1793 and mediated between the Nepalese and Chinese. In 1795 Resident in Hyderabad. In 1798 he met Lord Mornington in the Cape and became his Military Secretary, 1799 his Private Secretary. After Seringapatam 1799 he was made a Commissioner for the partition of Mysore. In 1801 Resident in Poona, left India in 1801. Major-General 1811. Married 1788 Maria Seaton Rawson, four daughters (thus D.N.B., but Wikipedia calls her Pawson, gives 1785 as the year of marriage, has wife and children returning in 1788 and the couple legally separated in 1797). He had a long-time Indian mistress (and two children with her) and is said to have been opium addict. His brother was the famous “White Mughal” James Achilles K. (1764–1805).
Too much different information is offered. geneanet.org has the same parents, marriage in Calcutta 1785 with Maria Pawson (but only one daughter) and different life dates from William himself: Cumberland county PA 17.6.1748 — Armstrong county PA 22.8.1912. Birth in the U.S.A seems highly unlikely. Instead, ancestors.familysearch.org has Calcutta 1754 — Cowanshannock, Armstrong co. PA 22.8.1812, wife 1785 Pawson and five daughters. Neither of these knows James Achilles K. as his brother..
Publications: A vocabulary, Persian, Arabic, and English; containing such words as have been … incorporated into the Hindui. 8+195 p. L. 1785.
– “An Introduction to the History of Persian Poets”, The New Asiatic Miscellany 1, 1789, 13-60 & “The Institutes of Gházán Khan, Emperor of the Moghuls”, Ibid. 149-226.
– Translated from Persian Diary and Letters of Tippoo Sultaun. L. 1804.
– An account of the Kingdom of Nepaul. 408 p. 14 pl. L. 1811 (an account of his mission to Nepal).
Sources: Buckland, Dictionary; *B. Cardiff, Oxford D.N.B.; H.M.C[hichester], D.N.B. 31, 1892, 222; Wikipedia with picture.
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