https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=James_Francis_TennantJames Francis Tennant - Revision history2026-07-31T15:19:19ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=James_Francis_Tennant&diff=363732&oldid=prevBot at 00:04, 31 October 20222022-10-31T00:04:55Z<p></p>
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[[File:James Francis Tennant (IAU 1887).jpg|thumb|James Francis Tennant in [[Paris]], 1887]]<br />
[[Lieutenant-General]] '''James Francis Tennant''', '''{{post-nominals|country=UK|CIE|FRS|sep=,}}''' (10 January 1829 – 6 March 1915) was a noted soldier and astronomer.<br />
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Tennant was born in [[Calcutta]] to [[Scottish people|Scottish]] parents. The son of Brigadier-General [[James Tennant (army officer)|Sir James Tennant]] and Elizabeth (née Paterson),<ref>Dod, Robert (1862), The Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, of Great Britain and Ireland for 1862, London, Whittaker, p. 550</ref> and was educated at the [[East India Company]]'s [[Addiscombe Military Seminary|Military Seminary at Addiscombe]] from 1845 to 1847.<ref>{{cite book |first=H.M. |last=Vibart |title=Addiscombe: its heroes and men of note |place=Westminster |publisher=Archibald Constable |year=1894 |page=689 |ol=23336661M }}</ref> He began his military career with the [[Bengal Engineers]] in [[Calcutta]] in 1847.<br />
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His mathematical skills landed him with the [[Great Trigonometric Survey]] where he was engaged in triangulation of the [[great longitudinal series]] until 1857, when he was diverted to garrison duties during the [[Indian Mutiny]]. In 1859, when he rejoined the survey, he was given the directorship of the [[Madras Observatory]] where his interest in astronomy started.<ref>Pang, Alex (2002), Empire and the sun: Victorian solar eclipse expeditions, Stanford, Stanford University Press, p. 16</ref><br />
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He was noted for being an observer for the [[Royal Astronomical Society]] for the [[solar eclipse]] of 17 August 1868 across the Indian peninsula,<ref>{{Google books |title=Total eclipses and the total eclipse of 18th August, 1868 |id=FKEIAAAAQAAJ }}</ref> and that of 11 December 1871 across southern India, and later the [[transit of Venus]] of 1874. 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]].<br />
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In 1876 he was appointed Master of the [[India Government Mint, Kolkata|Calcutta Mint]], 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.<br />
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==References==<br />
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==Further reading==<br />
*{{cite odnb |first1=Jay |last1=Pasachoff |first2=Naomi |last2=Pasachoff |title=Tennant, James Francis (1829–1915) |id= |year=2020 }}<br />
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[[Category:1829 births]]<br />
[[Category:1915 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Scottish astronomers]]<br />
[[Category:Alumni of Addiscombe Military Seminary]]<br />
[[Category:Bengal Engineers officers]]<br />
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]<br />
[[Category:Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society]]<br />
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