Alexander Tennant

Alexander Tennant, born in Ochiltree, Ayrshire in 1772, was a leading British colonist in the Cape Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, an enterprising merchant, a brother to industrialist Charles Tennant and a friend of Robbie Burns.

Early life

Alexander was the fourth son of John Tennant (1725-1810) and Margaret McClure (1738-1784). [Dugdale, James: "Tennant's Stalk", London, Macmillan, 1973, page xv.] His father, a farmer, was well known for his industry. 'A worth, intelligent farmer, my father's friend and my own', was how Burns described the prolific John Tennant of Glenconner in a letter to his lover Clarinda, dated 2nd March 1788. This work ethic was found throughout the family; his brother Charles becoming a highly successful industrialist, his brother William the Chaplain to the Honourable East India Company and a further brother, David, a noted privateer. In his "Epistle to James Tennant of Glenconner", possibly referring to an entrepreneurial flair, Burns wrote of Alexander:

"An’ Lord, remember singing Sannock, Wi’ hale breeks, saxpence, an’ a bannock! ", loosely translating to "And Lord, remember singing Alexander, With whole trousers, sixpence and a bannock (food)!" [Stewart, George: "Curiosities of Glasgow Citizenship", Glasgow, James Maclehose, Publisher to the University, 1881.]

Cape Colony

Around 1795 Alexander embarked on a voyage to visit his clergyman brother, William Tennant (1758-1813), in

Marriage and Respectability

Despite the questionable business arrangements and practices of his youth, at the time of his death, in 1814, Tennant had gained an air of respectability. He married Cornelia Sandenberg in 1796, a member of an established Dutch/Norwegian colonial family and had built up a considerable land holding in Wynberg. [ [http://academic.sun.ac.za/mil/mil_history/militarysites_wynberg.htm Wynberg Military Base ] ] His wife bore him eight children, many of whom would go on to hold positions of authority in the fledgling British administration of the Cape. [Society of Chemical Industry: "Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry", London , 1950, page 411.] His son, Hercules, was a civil commissioner and magistrate for Uitenhage and wrote "Tennant's Notary's Manual for the Cape of Good Hope". His grandson, Sir David Tennant, son of Hercules, was the Speaker of the Cape House of Assembly from 1874-1895.

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