Tennent, Hugh Lyon (1817-1874) and Tennent, Robert (1813-1890)

In volume 1, the photographs initialled ‘T’ refer to ‘H. and R. Tennent’, though Hugh Lyon Tennent was responsible for most of the photographs.

Hugh Lyon Tennent: Advocate. Born in Edinburgh in 1817, he was the younger son of Patrick Tennent (1782-1872), Writer to the Signet, and Margaret Rodger Lyon (1794-1867). He was the brother of another member of the Edinburgh Calotype Club, Robert Tennent.

Hugh was a keen sailor and with other members of his family sailed around the Western Isles in 1838. An account of this cruise is held at the National Library of Scotland, (shelfmark Acc.12071). After qualifying as an advocate in 1840 he was appointed Sheriff-substitute of Lanarkshire at Airdrie in 1853 prior to a similar appointment at Greenock in 1856. The index to volume one of the Edinburgh Calotype Club albums is in Tennent’s hand and he was possibly responsible for compiling the album itself. He was also a member of the Photographic Society of Scotland established in 1856.

Hugh Tennent was something of a philanthropist – he promoted the work of the Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Society, he was also known as a connoisseur of fine art in Greenock. Tennent was part of the family involved with the Tennents brewery in Glasgow, but he spent a lot of his time in Fairlie, which features in many of the photographs. In 1855 Tennent married Agnes Halsey in London. He died in Edinburgh in 1874 and was buried there in the Dean Cemetery.

Robert Tennent: Born in Edinburgh in 1813 and educated at Edinburgh Academy, Robert was the elder son of Patrick Tennent (1782-1872), Writer to the Signet, and Margaret Rodger Lyon (1794-1867). A member of the Edinburgh Calotype Club, Robert was one of a number of family members who sailed around the Western Isles in July 1838. An account of this cruise is held at the National Library of Scotland, (shelfmark Acc.12071). Robert Tennent arrived in Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) in June 1839 from Leith and crossed to Port Phillip in October 1839. Along with Charles Hugh Lyon (1825-1905), he held a squatting run of nearly 30,000 acres at Gnarkeet, 100 miles west of Melbourne from 1844 to 1853. Tennent also held 75,000 acres in the Portland Bay district, 20 miles from Gnarkeet, from 1841 to 1848. He married Wilhelmina Meldrum in 1858 at Kincaple, Fife and in his will he left property in Melbourne to his daughters.