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

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

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, Republic of Ireland, from the village of Ballyfarnon. The house, originally construct ...

, King Tenison was the son of Thomas Tenison and Lady Frances King. He was also the grandson of

Edward King, 1st Earl of Kingston Edward King, 1st Earl of Kingston PC (I) (29 March 1726 – 8 November 1797) was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer. He was the eldest son of Sir Henry King, 3rd Baronet and Isabella Wingfield, daughter of Edward Wingfield. He had a twin sister ...

, and cousin of

Robert King, 6th Earl of Kingston Robert King, 6th Earl of Kingston (17 July 1804 – 16 October 1869), styled The Honourable until 1854, was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer. Biography He was the son of Robert King, 1st Viscount Lorton and Lady Frances Parsons, daughter of ...

. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

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

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 A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

and High Sheriff for

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; gle, Contae Liatroma) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the ...

, County Roscommon and

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in the county. Sligo County Council is the local ...

, 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 ...

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 PC (20 October 1795 – 18 March 1854), previously known as The Viscount Anson from 1818 to 1831, was a British Whig politician from the Anson family. He served under Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne as ...

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 (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre an ...

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 acet ...

s, after receiving a licence granted by former

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...

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

. 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 co ...

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, 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, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. He then travelled to

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, 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, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

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) b ...

Roscommon Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads. The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who built ...

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. Frémont ...

– 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. * Janua ...

as well as in 1859 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, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

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–March * January 4 – The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at Broad Street (Manhattan), 10-12 Broad near Wall Street, in New York City. * January 13 – American Civil War : Sec ...

, at Leitrim, was also unsuccessful.

Death

King Tenison died at

in June 1878, while his wife died at

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

, 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