Born May 3, 1768. Died October 1, 1838.

Charles Tennant, the founder of the celebrated chemical works at St. Rollox, Glasgow, was born at Ochiltree, Ayrshire. His father, John Tennant, was factor or steward to the Countess of Glencairn, and also rented a farm on her estate, in the culture of which he displayed great practical and scientific ability. John Tennant married twice; after the death of his first wife, by whom he had two sons and one daughter, he married, in the year 1757, Margaret McLure, who, in the course of time, brought him a numerous family of six sons and seven daughters. John Tennant's second wife possessed very superior abilities, which she earnestly directed to the education and advancement of her family, ultimately having the satisfaction of seeing all her children turn out men of energy and success in life. Charles Tennant, the subject of our memoir, was the fifth son; he received his early education at home, afterwards attending the parish school of Ochiltree. When still very young, Charles left home and went to Kilbarhan, with the intention of learning the manufacture of silk. After remaining at this place a short time, Tennant removed to Wellmeadow bleachfield, where he studied the methods of bleaching at that time in use, and ultimately went to Darnly (the place from which the unfortunate husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, took his title), and established there an extensive bleachfield, taking into partnership with him Mr. Cochrane of Paisley. Mr. Tennant now devoted himself to the study of chemistry, feeling that the process of bleaching could only be effected by true chemical agency, whatever might be the particular method or operation, and that, therefore, the bleacher must in the first case look to the chemist for the discovery of more potent agents to effect his object. Before Mr. Tennant's time the operation of bleaching was of a very tedious and expensive nature. The cloth was steeped in alkaline lye, which was called 'bucking.' The subsequent process of bleaching was done by exposure on the grass, called 'crofting;' these operations were repeated five or six times, and extended over a period of eight or ten weeks. In the year 1787 an important change took place, in consequence of the discovery, by Mr. Scheele, of Sweden, of chlorine, which was used as a substitute for exposure to the atmosphere. The repeated experiments of Berthollet added considerably to the facts already known, while the practical effects of these discoveries were still more fully shown by Mr. Watt, and Dr. Henry of Manchester. In 1798 Mr. Tennant made his first great discovery, viz., a method of making saturated chloride of lime, an article which was found to answer perfectly all the purposes required by the bleacher. This invention, for which he took out a patent, consisted in the substitution of lime for potash. His patent right was, however, resisted by certain of the bleachers of Lancashire, and was set aside by the verdict of a jury, on the grounds that the patent included a mode of 'bucking' with quicklime and water, which was not a new invention; and because one part of the patent was not new, the whole of the claim must be set aside. By this decision the use of liquid chloride of lime in bleaching was thrown open to all; and through an unfortunate error of expression in describing his process, Mr. Tennant was deprived of the fruits of a laborious investigation extending over a period of several years. This subsequently caused a strong feeling of sympathy to be manifested for him by many of the bleachers of Lancashire, who, as an expression of their grateful acknowledgment, presented him with a service of plate, which he accepted. Mr. Tennant, however, in accordance with the character of his original design, determined to press onward with his discoveries, and to bring, if possible, his first invention to a still more practical issue. He therefore adopted a new method, and at length completed and secured by patent a process for impregnating quicklime in a dry state with chlorine, which proved perfectly successful; this, his second patent, remained uncontested, and he lived to secure a large pecuniary reward.

Mr. Tennant's discoveries, together with the introduction of soda-ash or 'British soda,' in place of potash, greatly facilitated and cheapened the process of bleaching, while the introduction of mechanical appliances and the power of the steam-engine superseded the previous laborious operations by hand. The result has been that the same amount of bleaching is now performed in as many days as was formerly performed in weeks, while the price has been reduced from 7s. 6d. (1803) to 6d. (1861) for a piece of cloth of 28 yards.

In the year 1800 Mr. Tennant removed from Darnly to St. Rollox, Glasgow, where he commenced business as a large manufacturing chemist, taking into partnership Mr. Charles Mackintosh, Mr. William Cowper, and Mr. James Knox. During the remainder of his life Mr. Tennant devoted himself with energy to the forwarding of his business, and ultimately caused his manufactory to become the largest and most extensive of its kind in Europe. He also took considerable interest in the politics of the day. His principles were those of an intelligent and liberal-minded reformer, and he was long looked up to as one of the leading men of his party, although the least tainted by mere party spirit or selfishness. Mr. Tennant was likewise conspicuous in his promotion of many public undertakings. He took a deep interest in the furtherance of the railway system; the Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway may be said to owe its origin and completion almost entirely to him, while his invincible industry and perseverance contributed greatly towards the establishment of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. He was a great friend of George Stephenson's, and was present with him at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad when the unfortunate accident occurred which resulted in the melancholy death of Mr. Huskisson.

Mr. Tennant died rather suddenly, in his seventy-first year, at his house in Abercrombie Place, Glasgow. He was possessed of a constitutional nervousness, rather remarkable in one of a large and healthy frame, allied to a peculiar sensitiveness to the beautiful. In after life he would often talk with pleasure of his youthful reminiscences of the poet Burns, who was at that time on terms of considerable intimacy with his family. Mr. Tennant was an earnest and indefatigable promoter of economical and educational improvement; an uncompromising friend of civil and religious liberty; while his own inborn energy of character and clear intellect placed him among the foremost of those men who, by uniting science to manufactures, have at once extended their fields of action, and entitled their occupations to be classed among the ranks of the liberal professions.—The Progress of Science and Art as developed in the Bleaching of Cotton, by Henry Ashworth, Paper read before the British Association at Manchester, September 5, 1861; and, Particulars communicated by the Family.