James Emerson Tennent

Sir James Emerson Tennent, 1st Baronet, FRS (born James Emerson; 7 April 1804 – 6 March 1869) was a Conservative Member of the United Kingdom Parliament for the Irish seats of Belfast and of Lisburn, and a resident Colonial Secretary in Ceylon. Opposed to the restoration of a parliament in Dublin, his defence of Ireland's union with Great Britain emphasised what he conceived as the liberal virtues of British imperial administration. In Ceylon, his policies in support the growing plantation and wage economy met with peasant resistance in the Matale Rebellion of 1848. In recognition of his encyclopedic surveys of the colony, in 1862 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Early life

He was born in North Street, Belfast, on 7 April 1804, third and only surviving son of William Emerson (d. 1821), of Ardmore, County Armagh, a wealthy tobacco merchant, and Sarah, youngest daughter of William Arbuthnot of Ardmore, County Armagh. He was educated at the Belfast Academy and at Trinity College.

Volunteer in Greek War of Independence

With his college friend, Robert James Tennent, he took up the cause of Greek independence. At the beginning of 1824 he travelled to Greece, and when he arrived in Messolonghi, joined the artillery corps formed by Lord Byron. He was to remain at the side of the poet until his death in April. After a respite of some months in England, he returned to Greece in March 1825. Appointed a captain of artillery, some sources place him in the battle to break the Siege of the Acropolis in Athens.

In 1826 he published in London his first book entitled Picture of Greece, which contributed to the development of the philhellenic sentiment in Great Britain. It was followed by Letters from the Aegean (1829), and a History of Modern Greece (1830). He also authored a series of unsigned articles in the British press, supporting the Greek struggle.