Lt. The Hon. Edward Wyndham Tennant (1 July 1897 – 22 September 1916) was an English war poet, killed at the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

Early life

He was the son of Edward Tennant, who became Lord Glenconner in 1911, and

Pamela Wyndham Pamela Adelaide Genevieve Grey, Viscountess Grey of Fallodon (born Wyndham; later Pamela Tennant, Baroness Glenconner; 14 January 1871 – 18 November 1928), was an English writer. The wife of Edward Tennant, 1st Baron Glenconner, and later of ...

, a writer, Lady Glenconner and later wife of

Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, (25 April 1862 – 7 September 1933), better known as Sir Edward Grey, was a British Liberal statesman and the main force behind British foreign policy in the era of the First World War. An adher ...

. His younger brothers were the eccentric

Stephen Tennant Stephen James Napier Tennant (21 April 1906 – 28 February 1987) was a British socialite known for his decadent, eccentric lifestyle. He was called "the brightest" of the "Bright Young People". Early life Tennant was born into British nobili ...

and David Tennant, the founder of the Gargoyle Club. Born at Stockton House, Stockton, Wiltshire, which his father had just leased from Major-General A. G. Yeatman-Biggs,STOCKTON HOUSE, WILTSHIRE : HERITAGE STATEMENT – DOCUMENTARY SOURCES
dated 26 November 2014, at wiltshire.gov.uk Tennant was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

. At the age of seventeen he left school and joined the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

in the early weeks of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Tennant was known to friends and family as Bim, but the origin of this nickname is unknown. It has been suggested that he was engaged before his death to Nancy Cunard, but a reliable source, Colin Tennant, 3rd Baron Glenconner, responded in a letter to a question on this point and stated that the suggestion was incorrect; and Lois Gordon, Nancy Cunard's biographer, in her extensive research, never came across any hint of such an alliance.

Death and memorial

Tennant is buried at

Guillemont Guillemont () is a commune approximately east of Albert in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It, like much of the surrounding area, is primarily an agricultural community, but is known for its large Commonwealth War ...

in France at the Guillemont Road Cemetery, close to the remains of his friend Raymond Asquith, who was killed the week before. The inscription on his gravestone reads: KILLED IN ACTION IN HIS TWENTIETH YEAR. A memorial to Tennant, sculpted by Allan G. Wyon, was erected in

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buildi ...

. There are two inscriptions on the memorial, one above the low-relief portrait of Tennant, and one below. The upper inscription reads: "When things were at their worst he would go up and down in the trenches cheering the men, when danger was greatest his smile was loveliest." The inscription below the portrait has the following wording:

Works

*''Verses by A Child'' (private printing, 1909) *''Worple Flit and other poems'' (printed posthumously, 1916)

References

*Pamela Glenconner, ''Edward Wyndham Tennant: a memoir by his mother Pamela Glenconner with portraits in photogravure'' (1919) * Anne Powell, ''Bim. A tribute to the honorable Edward Wyndham Tennant, Lieutenant, 4th Battalion Grenadier Guards 1897-1916'' (1990)

External links

Edward Wyndham Tennant
at

Find a Grave Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry.com. Its stated mission is "to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present fin ...

.
Edward Wyndham Tennant – A Memoir by his mother Pamela Glenconner
at OpenLibrary.org. With a photo of E. W. Tennant on page 171. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tennant, Edward Wyndham 20th-century English poets 1897 births 1916 deaths Grenadier Guards officers Military personnel from Wiltshire British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in the Battle of the Somme People educated at West Downs School People educated at Winchester College English World War I poets 20th-century English male writers English male poets Edward Wyndham