James Emerson Tennent

Sir James Emerson Tennent
James Tennent after 1853
5th Colonial Secretary of Ceylon
In office
1846–1850
MonarchQueen Victoria
Preceded byPhilip Anstruther
Succeeded byCharles Justin MacCarthy
Acting Governor of British Ceylon
In office
19 April 1847 – 29 May 1847
MonarchQueen Victoria
Preceded byColin Campbell
Succeeded byThe Viscount Torrington
Personal details
BornJames Emerson
7 April 1804
Died6 March 1869(1869-03-06) (aged 64)
London
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom
PartyWhigs (until 1834)
Conservatives (1834–1869)
SpouseLetitia Tennent
Children3
Alma materTrinity College, Dublin
OccupationColonial administrator, politician
ProfessionLawyer
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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.