Edward King Tenison (21 January 1805 – 19 June 1878) was an Irish Whig and Liberal politician and photographer.

Early life and family

Born in 1805 at

Kilronan Castle Kilronan Castle, previously known as Castle Tenison, is a large country house standing in of parkland on the shore of Lough Meelagh in County Roscommon, Ireland, from the village of Ballyfarnon. The house, originally constructed c.1820, was ...

, King Tenison was the son of Thomas Tenison and Lady Frances King. He was also the grandson of Edward King, 1st Earl of Kingston, and cousin of Robert King, 6th Earl of Kingston. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

where he achieved an MA before, in 1825, joining the army and serving as an officer of the 14th Light Dragoons until 1836. Having retired from the army, he then served as a Justice of the Peace and High Sheriff for

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim, County Leitr ...

, County Roscommon and

County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...

, and later became a

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ov ...

for Roscommon and Sligo. In 1838, he married travel writer and artist Lady Louisa Anson, daughter of

Thomas Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield Thomas William Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC (20 October 1795 – 18 March 1854), known as Viscount Anson from 1818–31, was a British Whig (British political faction), Whig politician from the An ...

and Louisa Catherine Philips. Together, they had two children: Louisa Frances Mary (died 1868) and Florence Margaret Christine Tenison (1845–1907).

Photography

In the 1840s, he took up photography, beginning with

daguerreotype Daguerreotype was the first publicly available photography, photographic process, widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre and introduced worldwid ...

s and

paper negative The paper negative process consists of using a negative printed on paper (either photographically or digitally) to create the final print of a photograph, as opposed to using a modern negative on a film base of cellulose acetate. The plastic aceta ...

s, after receiving a licence granted by former

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, ...

William Henry Fox Talbot William Henry Fox Talbot (; 11 February 180017 September 1877) was an English scientist, inventor, and photography pioneer who invented the Salt print, salted paper and calotype processes, precursors to photographic processes of the later 19th ...

. Between 1850 and 1852, King Tenison and his wife travelled in Spain for their artwork where, as an early adopter of the

calotype Calotype or talbotype is an early photographic process introduced in 1841 by William Henry Fox Talbot, using paper coated with silver iodide. Paper texture effects in calotype photography limit the ability of this early process to record low ...

photographic process, he aroused suspicion and curiosity due to his bulky equipment and outdoor work. The work was later published as ''Memories of Spain'' in 1854, while his wife's 50 lithographs appeared in ''Castile and Anadalucia'' in 1853. In 1853, he joined the

Photographic Society of London The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is the world's oldest photographic society having been in continuous existence since 1853. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as th ...

, and first displayed his work at the Great Industrial Exhibition in Dublin. The next year, he then helped to found the Dublin Photographic Society. Further works of his were later put on display in London between 1854 and 1855, encompassing photos taken using calotype and waxed paper processes in Spain,

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

. He then travelled to

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, before concluding his career taking photos in his home nation of Ireland. An album of his work, calotypes and salt print photos of Ireland taken in 1858, is now preserved in the National Photographic Archive in Dublin, while further work is held in private collections. In 1999, one album was sold at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

for more than $10,000.

Political career

King Tenison first stood for election in

1830 It is known in European history as a rather tumultuous year with the Revolutions of 1830 in France, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland and Italy. Events January–March * January 11 – LaGrange College (later the University of North Alabama) ...

Roscommon Roscommon (; ; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60 road (Ireland), N60, N61 road (Ireland), N61 and N63 road (Irelan ...

but was unsuccessful. He was later elected MP for Leitrim in

1847 Events January–March * January 4 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the U.S. government. * January 13 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends fighting in the Mexican–American War in California. * January 16 – John C. Fr� ...

– standing on civil and religious liberty, opposing anti-Catholic measures – but stood down at the next general election in 1852. King Tenison sought to be MP for the seat again in

1857 Events January–March * January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, '' Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. * January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating. * Ja ...

as well as in

1859 Events January–March * January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico. * January 24 ( O. S.) – Under the rule of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia are uni ...

for Roscommon, but was both times unsuccessful. He also stood at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

in Sligo Borough in 1860, but retired from the race after refusing to offer bribes to Liberal electors. His final attempt for parliament in

1865 Events January * January 4 – The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad near Wall Street, in New York City. * January 13 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Fort Fisher – Unio ...

, at Leitrim, was also unsuccessful.

Death

King Tenison died at

in June 1878, while his wife died at

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

, Italy in September 1882.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:King Tenison, Edward 1805 births 1878 deaths 19th-century Irish photographers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Leitrim constituencies (1801–1922) People educated at Eton College Politicians from County Roscommon UK MPs 1847–1852 Whig (British political party) MPs for Irish constituencies Artists from County Roscommon