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Sir Charles Clow Tennant, 1st Bt

(1823-1906), Scottish businessman, industrialist, Liberal politician and patron of art. MP for Glasgow and Peebles and Selkirk; Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery

Sitter in 5 portraits
Charles Tennant was the grandson of the chemist and industrialist of the same name. In 1843, he entered the St Rollox chemical works, which had been established by his grandfather to produce bleaching powder, and went on to become the largest alkali works in Britain. Tenant re-invigorated the ailing chemical works, becoming extremely wealthy in the process. In 1853, he bought The Glen estate in Peeblesshire, where he extensively remodelled the grounds and built a large mansion. He sat as a Liberal MP between 1879 and 1886, was a Trustee of the National Gallery and was appointed a Member of the Tariff Commission in 1904.

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Sir Charles Clow Tennant, 1st Bt

by (Pierre) François Verheyden
watercolour, published in Vanity Fair 9 June 1883
NPG 4745

Private View of the Old Masters Exhibition, Royal Academy, 1888

by Henry Jamyn Brooks
oil on canvas, 1889
NPG 1833

Sir Charles Clow Tennant, 1st Bt

by and published by J.W. Watt
lithograph, 1880
NPG D40518

Sir Charles Clow Tennant, 1st Bt ('Statesmen. No. 423.')

by (Pierre) François Verheyden
chromolithograph, published in Vanity Fair 9 June 1883
NPG D44124

Key to Private View of the Old Masters Exhibition, Royal Academy, 1888

after Henry Jamyn Brooks
photograph, 1919 or after
NPG D42236

Family Tree

Asquith

Related People

Anthony Asquith (grandson)
Elizabeth (née Asquith), Princess Bibesco (granddaughter)
Nancy Dugdale (née Tennant), Lady Crathorne (daughter)
Katharine Elliot (née Tennant), Baroness Elliot of Harwood (daughter)
Edward Priaulx Tennant, 1st Baron Glenconner (son)
Margaret Emma Alice ('Margot') Asquith (née Tennant), Countess of Oxford and Asquith (daughter)
Charlotte Monckton Lister (née Tennant), Lady Ribblesdale (daughter)
Dame Margaret Wakehurst (daughter)

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Sir Charles Clow Tennant, 1st Bt