Robert Tennant 1827 - 1900
Robert Tennant , of Chapel House. J.P. for Yorks. (West Riding), Ross and Cromarty and Sutherland, formerly Capt. Yorkshire Hussar, M.P. for Leeds 1874-80. Solicitor and farmer of 135 acres employ. 5 labs. (1861). Mine Serv Flax Spinner Coal Owner Railway Director J.P. (1881) Times Obituary: We regret to announce the death of Mr. Robert Tennant, formerly a Parliamentary representative of Leeds, which took place early yesterday morning at Roffe, Horsham, Sussex, where for some years, he lived in retirement. A member of an old Yorkshire family, which has been settled in Kilnsey-in-Wharfedale since the days of Queen Elizabeth. Mr Tennant was at one time a well-known figure in the political, social, and commercial life of Leeds. His father was Mr John Tennant Stansfield, who assumed the name of Tennant, and succeded to the family estates, under the will of his uncle, Mr Robert Tennant. His mother was Miss Anne Katherine Shaw, of Otley. The deceased was born at Otley in 1828, and received his education at Leeds Grammar School. He was afterwards privately prepared for the legal profession, and on becoming qualified, was taken into partnership by his uncle, Mr John Hope Shaw, who carried on business as a solicitor in Leeds, and who was twice Mayor of the borough - in 1848-9 and in 1852-3. Mr. Tennant, however, had a natural bent for commercial pursuits, and in 1865 he retired from the legal profession, and went into the flax-spinning business as a member of the firm Hives and Tennant, whose mill was in East-street. In the later period of the partnership, the local flax trade declined considerably. Mr. Tennant was also associated with many industrial undertakings, in the West Riding and elsewhere. He was an active member of the local Conservative party, and at the general election of 1874 was brought forward as the colleague of Mr. W. St. James Wheelhouse, who had been the minority Member of the borough from 1868. Their Liberal opponents were the retiring Liberal Members, Mr. (afterwards Sir) Edward Baines and Mr. Robert Meek Carter. The temperance party brought forward the late Dr. Lees. The contest was more keenly fought than any election before or since in Leeds, with the single exception perhaps, of the struggle in West Leeds in 1895, when the late Colonel North opposed Mr. Herbert Gladstone. The presence in the field of a temperance candidate, of course, weakened, by dividing, the Liberal forces, and in the result, Mr. Baines was defeated. Mr. Carter was returned at the head of the poll, the Conservative candidates gaining the other two seats. Mr. Tennant sat for the borough throughout that that Parliament, but at the election of 1880 he was chosen as Conservative candidate for Peterborough, which, however, adhered to its ancient political traditions, and returned two Liberals, although there were three Liberal candidates and only one Conservative for the two seats. At this time Mr. Tennant was a director of the Great Northern Railway, and associated with other railway enterprises, being one of the promoters of the Callander and Oban line. He was also chairman of several coal and iron companies in the north of England. In his younger days he had held a captain's commission in the Yorkshire Hussars, and as one of the escort, rode alongside the carriage of the Queen when, accompanied by the Prince Consort, Her Majesty visited Leeds in 1858 to open the Town Hall. Mr. Tennant was an extensive landowner. One of his estates was Achnashellah on Loch Carron in Rossshire, and it was here at Glencarron Lodge, that he entertained the Prince of Wales on one occasion. He subsequently sold the estate to Sir Ivor Guest, now Lord Wimborne. Mr. Tennant also owned large properties in the North Riding and in other parts of the country. When in the early eighties, he left Leeds, he went to reside abroad for a time, and it was during a twelve months sojourn that he gathered the materials for an interesting work he wrote, entitled "Sardinia and its Resources." Mr. Tennant married, in 1850, Harriette, second daughter of Mr. Jeremiah Garnett, of Mount Broughton, Manchester, and had a numerous family, most of whom survive him. According to Speight (chapter 3, page 86) Mr Robert Tennant, formerly M.P. for Leeds, was born at Otley in 1828, his mother being the daugther of Mr James Shaw, also a native of Otley. He was the second son of Mr John Tennant Stansfield Tennant, J.P., D.L., of Chapel House, Kilnsey, of a family long resident in the Craven Dales. Mr Tennant in additon to his parliamentary duties, in past years took an active part in other spheres of public life and held many important offices. He took an especial interest in the Sardinian question as it affected international trade, and wrote a volume entitled "Sardinia and its Resources", published in 1885, and dedicated to the King of Italy. He also wrote a valuable little book entitled "British Jamaica and its Resources", based on a personal visit, which contains a map and a chapter on the Venezuela boundary question. He was at one time a very large landowner in his native county, being possessed of five or six estates in Yorkshire, including three or four parishes in the North Riding. In Scotland, too, he owned an extensive estate at Auchnashellach, in county Ross, where he once entertained the Prince of Wales for a couple of days' shooting; and his possessions also included a large property at Rose Hall, Sutherlandshire, and the Ballochulish Slate Quarries. In conjunction with Sir Theodore Martin, he promoted the Callander and Oban Railway, and was himself one of the directors. Mr Tennant, who died in March 1900, married in 1850, Henrietta, daughter of the late Mr Jeremiah Garnett, of Otley and Manchester. A plaque in Coniston Church - " To the memory of the family of Robert Tennant of Chapel House, Kilnsey. John Robert B: 1851.... also of Eleanora H.S. Tennant D 1956 Aged 90 last surviving member of the family of Robert Tennant." According to Speight (chapter 40, page 461) He (John Robert Tennant) died in 1894 when the estate passed to his brother Robert, (issue of the second marriage) who died in the Spring of 1900....Mr Robert Tennant was M.P. for Leeds, 1874-1880, and he had also been a Captain in the Yorkshire Hussars. 1881 Census he was described as "Mine Serv Flax Spinner Coal Owner Railway Director J.P." Also visiting was [Missing XREF c-crosse69530]. Surname of Owner First name of Owner Address of owner Extent of Land Gross Estimated Rental TENNANT Robert Leeds 3633 acres 2 roods 9 perches £3457 s 4
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| Born: Otley, Yorkshire, England 14th Nov 1827 | Baptised: Otley, Yorkshire, England 17th Nov 1827
| | Died: Roffey nr Horsham, Sussex, England 5th Mar 1900 | Buried: ST John's, St leonard's Forest, Coolhurst, , Sussex, England 7th Mar 1900
| | Family: Tennant formerly of Arncliffe, Yorks. |
Sources
Census
- 1861 census (head of household - Grove House Mansion, Scarcroft, Yorks., , England)
- 1871 census (head of household - Scarcroft Lodge, Scarcroft, Yorks., , England)
- 1881 census (head of household - Bohun Lodge, Cat Hill, East Barnet, Herts., , England)
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Timeline
| 14th Nov 1827 | Born (birth) Otley, Yorkshire, England | | 17th Nov 1827 | Baptised (baptism) Otley, Yorkshire, England | | 4th Dec 1850 | Married Harriette Garnett
(Tennant ) 1827 - 1899 (marriage) Manchester, England | | 1861 | Head of household in 1861 census (census) Scarcroft, Yorks., England | | c. 1870 | Executor of the will of Jeremiah Garnett
(Taylor , Taylor ) 1793 - 1870 (will) | | 1871 | Head of household in 1871 census (census) Scarcroft, Yorks., England | | 3rd Apr 1881 | Head of household in 1881 census (census) East Barnet, Herts., England | | 3rd Sep 1899 | Made a will (will) | | 5th Mar 1900 | Died (death) Roffey nr Horsham, Sussex, England | | 7th Mar 1900 | Buried (burial) Coolhurst, Sussex, England |
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