Sir James Emerson Tennent, 1st Baronet, FRS (born James Emerson; 7 April 1804 – 6 March 1869) was a British politician and traveller born in Ireland. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

on 5 June 1862.

Life

The third son of William Emerson, a merchant of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, and Sarah, daughter of William Arbuthnot of Rockville (or Rockvale), County Down, he was born there in 1804. He was educated at the

Belfast Academy The Belfast Royal Academy (commonly shortened to ) is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school in north Belfast. The Academy is one of 8 schools in Northern ...

and Trinity College, Dublin, of which he afterwards became

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

He took up the cause of Greek independence, and travelled in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, publishing a ''Picture of Greece'' (1826), ''Letters from the Aegean'' (1829), and a ''History of Modern Greece'' (1830); and he was called to the English bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1831. In that year he married Letitia, daughter and co-heiress (with her cousin, Robert James Tennent, M.P. for Belfast, 1848–52) of William Tennent, a wealthy merchant at Belfast, who died of cholera in 1832, and he adopted by royal licence the name of his wife in addition to his own. He entered Parliament in 1832 as member for

. In 1841 he became

Secretary to the Board of Control {{unreferenced, date=November 2010 The Secretary to the Board of Control was a British government office in the late 18th and early 19th century, supporting the President of the Board of Control, who was responsible for overseeing the British East ...

, and in 1843 he was presented with a service of plate by the

calico Calico (; in British usage since 1505) is a heavy plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than muslin, but less coarse and thick than ...

printers of Great Britain as an acknowledgment of his getting a bill passed in Parliament for the copyright of calico designs. He was a friend of both

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

and Dickens's biographer John Forster, and was the dedicatee of Dickens's last completed novel '' Our Mutual Friend'' (1865).

Ceylon

In 1845 he was knighted and appointed colonial secretary of Ceylon, where he remained till 1850. While he was there, an economic depression in the United Kingdom severely affected the local coffee and cinnamon industry. Planters and merchants clamoured for a reduction of export duties. Tennent therefore recommended to

Earl Grey Earl Grey is a title in the peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1806 for General Charles Grey, 1st Baron Grey. In 1801, he was given the title Baron Grey of Howick in the County of Northumberland, and in 1806 he was created Viscou ...

, Secretary of State for Colonies in London that taxation should be radically shifted from

indirect taxation An indirect tax (such as sales tax, per unit tax, value added tax (VAT), or goods and services tax (GST), excise, consumption tax, tariff) is a tax that is levied upon goods and services before they reach the customer who ultimately pays the ...

direct taxation Although the actual definitions vary between jurisdictions, in general, a direct tax or income tax is a tax imposed upon a person or property as distinct from a tax imposed upon a transaction, which is described as an indirect tax. There is a dis ...

, which proposal was accepted. It was decided to abolish the export duties on coffee and reduce the export duty on cinnamon leaving a deficit of £40,000 Sterling which was to be met by direct taxes on the people. This was one of the causes of the Matale Rebellion of 1848. The result of his residence in Ceylon appeared in ''Christianity in Ceylon'' (1850) and '' Ceylon, Physical, Historical and Topographical'' (2 vols., 1859). The latter was illustrated by his protégé, fellow Ulsterman Andrew Nicholl. The

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...

attributes to it the first use in English of "rogue elephant", a translation of the Sinhala term ''wal aliya''. He was elected the second President of the newly formed Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, serving from 1846 to 1857. On his return to the United Kingdom, he became member for Lisburn, and under

Lord Derby Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, (29 March 1799 – 23 October 1869, known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley) was a British statesman, three-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...

was secretary to the

Poor Law Board The Poor Law Board was established in the United Kingdom in 1847 as a successor body to the Poor Law Commission overseeing the administration of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834. The new body was headed by a President, and with the Lord President of ...

in 1852. From 1852 till 1867 he was permanent secretary to the Board of Trade, and on his retirement he was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

of Tempo Manor in the Chapelry of

Tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

in the County of Fermanagh.

Politics

In his early years his political views had a radical tinge, and, although he subsequently joined the Tories, his conservatism was of a mild type. He withdrew from the Whigs along with

Lord Stanley Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...

and Sir James Graham, and afterwards adhered to

Sir Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

. However, he broke with Peel over the

Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They wer ...

and followed the Derbyites (moderate Conservative followers of Lord Stanley). He died in London on 6 March 1869. His family consisted of two daughters and a son, Sir William Emerson Tennent, who was an official in the Board of Trade, and at whose death the baronetcy became extinct. Besides the books above mentioned, Emerson Tennent wrote ''Belgium in 1840'' (1841), and ''Wine: its Duties and Taxation'' (1855), ''Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon'' (1861), ''The Wild Elephant and The Method Of Capturing It in Ceylon'' (1867), and was a contributor to magazines and a frequent correspondent of '' Notes and Queries''. James Emerson Tennent is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of Sri Lankan lizard, '' Ceratophora tennentii''.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Tennent", p. 263).

References

External links

* * *
Tyronne Fernando, PC, ''154th Death Anniversary of Veera Puran Appu''
Retrieved 5 December 2005.

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Emerson Tennent, James Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Antrim constituencies (1801–1922) Irish Conservative Party MPs Whig (British political party) MPs for Irish constituencies British Ceylon period Fellows of the Royal Society Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom 1804 births 1869 deaths UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 People educated at the Belfast Royal Academy Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Belfast constituencies (1801–1922) Chief Secretaries of Ceylon Civil servants from Belfast