Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

James Francis Tennant, (10 January 1829 – 6 March 1915) was a British soldier and astronomer. Tennant was born in Calcutta to

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

parents. The son of Brigadier-General Sir James Tennant and Elizabeth (née Paterson), and was educated at the East India Company's Military Seminary at Addiscombe from 1845 to 1847. He began his military career with the Bengal Engineers in Calcutta in 1847. His mathematical skills landed him with the

Great Trigonometric Survey The Great Trigonometrical Survey was a project that aimed to survey the entire Indian subcontinent with scientific precision. It was begun in 1802 by the British infantry officer William Lambton, under the auspices of the East India Company.Gil ...

where he was engaged in triangulation of the great longitudinal series until 1857, when he was diverted to garrison duties during the

Indian Mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

. In 1859, when he rejoined the survey, he was given the directorship of the Madras Observatory where his interest in astronomy started. He was noted for being an observer for the Royal Astronomical Society for the

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...

of 17 August 1868 across the Indian peninsula, and that of 11 December 1871 across southern India, and later the transit of Venus of 1874.Tennant, J.F. (1877), ''Report on the Preparations for, and Observations of the Transit of Venus, as seen at Roorkee and Lahore, on December 8, 1874'', Calcutta, Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing
online
. It was during these observations that photographic equipment was used extensively for the first time, Tennant was a practiced expert in photography and his skill aided the observations of the eclipses, in particular that of the solar corona. In 1876 he was appointed Master of the

Calcutta Mint The India Government Mint, Kolkata was first established in 1757, and was located in a building next to the Black Hole in the old fort – where the GPO (General Post Office) stands today. It was called the Calcutta Mint and used to produce co ...

, a position he held until his retirement in 1882, when he returned to England. He was elected to the council of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1885, and between 1890 and 1891 he served as president. At this time he had an interest in comets and contributed to several orbital calculations.

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