Kiernander was born in Akstad, Ostrogothia, Sweden and was educated at Lindkoping, then at the University of Uppsala and then at Halle. He was ordained in 1739 at London and sent to Cuddalore to serve in the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. He travelled aboard the ship
Colchester and reached in 1740. The region saw fighting between the French and British colonists in 1758 and Cuddalore was taken by the French under
Comte Lally. He then moved to the Danish settlement of Tranquebar and later went to work at the Dutch Church in Chinsurah. In 1758 he was invited by
Robert Clive to move to Calcutta. He was the first
Protestant Missionary to establish a base in
Bengal. During his stay both at Cuddalore and at Calcutta he collected specimens of natural history which he sent to Europe. He built the
Old Mission Church (or Beth Tephillah) in
Calcutta and founded one of the first printing presses in Calcutta. In 1781, he accused
James Augustus Hicky, the editor and publisher of ''
Hicky's Bengal Gazette of libel and won the trial. He was the author of The Trial and Conviction of James Augustus Hicky''. == References ==