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 GallerySitter 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.
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
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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