Charles Tennant

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Charles Tennant
Charles Tennant

Charles Tennant (May 3, 1768 - October 1, 1838) Scottish chemist and industrialist. He discovered bleaching powder and founded a mighty industrial dynasty.

Contents

[edit] Childhood

Born 3 May 1768 at Laigh Corton, Alloway, Ayrshire to John Tennant (1725-1810) and his second wife Margaret McClure (1738-1784). They moved to Glenconner, Ochiltree, Ayrshire shortly afterwards and Tennant attended Ochiltree parish school. The family had worked the land for generations and were friends with local poet Robert Burns (1759-1796). In Burns' epistle to "James Tennant of Glenconner" Tennant is mentioned as "wabster Charlie" (Scots language: weaver). This referring to the occupation on which Tennant had embarked, namely silk weaving, being apprenticed at the village of Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire.

[edit] Impetus

Charles Tennant's Darnley Bleach Fields c.1800
Charles Tennant's Darnley Bleach Fields c.1800

An important aspect of the weaving industry was bleaching cloth. At that time this involved treatment with stale urine and leaving the cloth exposed to sunlight for many months in so called bleaching fields. Tennant established his own bleaching fields at Darnley, near Barrhead, Renfrewshire in 1788 which were adjacent to his future wife's family home. In 1795 Tennant married Margaret Wilson (1766-1843) the daughter of William Wilson and Margaret Penman. Margaret Wilson was from a prominent family from whom Tennant received assistance for his rapidly expanding business. Between 1796 and 1810 they had ten children several of who also became prominent figures.

[edit] Discovery

With the chemist Charles Macintosh (1766-1843) he helped establish Scotland's first alum works at Hurlet, Renfrewshire. In 1798 he took out a patent for a bleach liquor formed by passing chlorine into a mixture of lime and water. This product had the advantage of being cheaper than the one generally used at the time because it substituted lime for potash. Unfortunately when Tennant attempted to protect his rights against infringement, his patent was held invalid on the double ground that the specification was incomplete and that the invention had been anticipated at a bleach works near Nottingham. Tennant's great discovery was bleaching powder (chloride of lime) for which he took a patent in 1799. The process involved reacting chlorine and dry slaked lime to form bleaching powder, a mixture comprised of calcium hypochlorite and other derivatives. It seems Macintosh also played a significant role in this discovery and remained one of Tennant's associates for many years.

[edit] Fortune

Charles Tennant's St.Rollox Chemical Works in 1831
Charles Tennant's St.Rollox Chemical Works in 1831

In 1800 Tennant founded a chemical works at St.Rollox, Glasgow that soon grew to be the largest chemical works in the world. The principle product being bleaching powder, which was sold worldwide. The works had a tall chimney known as Tennant's Stalk that was a well-known landmark around Glasgow not being demolished until the 1920s. By 1815 the business was known as Charles Tennant & Co. and had expanded into other chemicals, metallurgy and explosives. The early rail network in Scotland and important mines in Spain were also areas of interest.

[edit] Legacy

Tennant died 1 Oct 1838 in Glasgow. He is buried in Glasgow Necropolis cemetery where his monument is in the form of a seated figure, the sculpture is by Patrick Park (1811-1855). The mighty business empire Tennant founded and the immense wealth generated allowed many of his descendants to marry into the British aristocracy, his grandson Charles Clow Tennant (1823-1906) becoming 1st baronet. The chemical business founded by Tennant became known as the United Alkali Company Ltd. and eventually merged with others in 1926 to form the chemical giant Imperial Chemical Industries.

[edit] Notable descendants

[edit] Sources

  • Poems and Songs of Robert Burns publisher: London, Collins, 1955 ISBN 1426405588 OCLC 53420849
  • Broken Blood - The Rise and Fall of the Tennant family by Simon Blow publisher: London, Faber, 1987 ISBN 0-571-13374-6 OCLC 16470862
  • Tennant's Stalk: the story of the Tennants of the Glen by Nancy Dugdale publisher: London, Macmillan, 1973 ISBN 0333138201 OCLC 2736092
  • The will of Charles Tennant (1768-1838) 1840 Glasgow Sheriff Court Wills ref: SC36/51/16
  • The will of Margaret Wilson (1766-1843) 1845 Glasgow Sheriff Court Wills ref: SC36/51/21
  • Ordnance Survey map of Ayrshire 1860
  • Ordnance Survey map of Renfrewshire 1863
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