View source for Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson

{{Short description|British aristocrat (1852–1928)}}
{{redirect|Hallam Tennyson|the British radio producer|Hallam Tennyson (radio producer)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = The Lord Tennyson
| honorific-suffix    = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCMG|PC}}
| image               = Hallam Tennyson.jpg
| order               = 2nd
| office              = Governor-General of Australia
| term_start          = 9 January 1903
| term_end            = 21 January 1904<br/>[[Administrator of the Government of Australia|Acting]]: 17 July 1902 – 9 January 1903
| predecessor         = [[John Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow|Lord Hopetoun]]
| successor           = [[Henry Northcote, 1st Baron Northcote|Lord Northcote]]
| monarch             = [[Edward VII]]
| primeminister       = [[Edmund Barton|Sir Edmund Barton]]<br/>[[Alfred Deakin]]
| order2              = 14th
| office2             = Governor of South Australia
| term_start2         = 10 April 1899
| term_end2           = 17 July 1902
| lieutenant2         = 
| monarch2            = [[Queen Victoria|Victoria]]<br/>[[Edward VII]]
| premier2            = [[Charles Kingston]]<br/>[[Vaiben Louis Solomon|Vaiben Solomon]]<br/>[[Frederick Holder]]<br/>[[John Jenkins (Australian politician)|John Jenkins]]
| predecessor2        = [[Sir Thomas Buxton, 3rd Baronet|Sir Thomas Buxton]]
| successor2          = [[George Le Hunte|Sir George Le Hunte]]
| office3             = Member of the [[House of Lords]]<br />[[Lords Temporal|Lord Temporal]]
| term_start3         = 6 October 1892
| term_end3           = 2 December 1928<br/>[[Hereditary peer|Hereditary Peerage]]
| predecessor3        = [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson|Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson]]
| successor3          = [[Lionel Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1852|8|11|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Twickenham]], [[Middlesex]], England
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1928|12|2|1852|8|11|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Freshwater, Isle of Wight|Freshwater]], [[Isle of Wight]], England
| parents             = [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]]<br/>[[Emily Tennyson, Lady Tennyson|Emily Sellwood]]
| spouse              = {{Plainlist|
*{{marriage|Audrey Boyle|1884|1916|end=d}}
*{{marriage|Mary Prinsep|1918}}
}}
| alma_mater          = {{Plainlist|
*[[Marlborough College]]
*[[Trinity College, Cambridge]]}}
| profession          = 
| religion            = 
| caption             = Tennyson {{circa}} 1899–1902
| children            = {{Plainlist|
*[[Lionel Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson]]
*Hon. Alfred Aubrey Tennyson
*Hon. Harold Courtenay Tennyson
}}
}}

'''Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson''' (11 August 1852 – 2 December 1928) was a British aristocrat who served as the second [[governor-general of Australia]], in office from 1903 to 1904. He was previously [[Governor of South Australia]] from 1899 to 1902.

Tennyson was born in [[Twickenham]], [[Middlesex]], and educated at [[Marlborough College]] and [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]. He was the eldest son of the poet [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]], and served as his personal secretary and biographer; he succeeded to his father's title in 1892. Tennyson was made Governor of South Australia in 1899. When [[John Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow|Lord Hopetoun]] resigned the governor-generalship in mid-1902, Tennyson was the longest-serving state governor and thus became [[Administrator of the Government of Australia|Administrator of the Government]]. Tennyson was eventually chosen to be Hopetoun's permanent replacement, but accepted only a one-year term. He was more popular than his predecessor among the general public, but had a tense relationship with Prime Minister [[Alfred Deakin]] and was not offered an extension to his term. Tennyson retired to the Isle of Wight, and spent the rest of his life upholding his father's legacy.

==Early life==
[[File:Tennyson and his sons by Julia Margaret Cameron.jpg|thumb|right|[[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]], and his sons Hallam (left) and Lionel.]]
Hallam Tennyson was born in [[Chapel House, Twickenham|Chapel House]], a house his father was renting in [[Twickenham]], [[Middlesex]]. His parents were [[Emily, Lady Tennyson|Emily]] (née Sellwood) and [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson|Alfred Tennyson]]. He was named after his father's deceased friend [[Arthur Hallam]]. Tennyson's early childhood was spent at [[Farringford House]] on the [[Isle of Wight]], which his father began renting in 1853 and bought in 1856. He was educated at [[Marlborough College]] and [[Trinity College, Cambridge]].<ref name=":0">{{acad|id=TNY871H|name=Tennyson, Hallam}}</ref> Tennyson's career aspirations ended when his parents' age and ill-health obliged him to leave Cambridge to become their personal secretary. The idea of going into politics was also abandoned.

It was partly for Hallam's benefit that Alfred Tennyson accepted a [[peerage]] in 1884, the year Hallam married [[Audrey Tennyson|Audrey Georgiana Florence Boyle]] (after being disappointed in his love for [[Mary Gladstone]], daughter of [[William Ewart Gladstone]]). On his father's death in 1892, he inherited the title Baron Tennyson, and also the role of official biographer. His ''Tennyson: A Memoir'' was published in 1897.

==Governor of South Australia==
Like his father, Tennyson was an ardent imperialist, and in 1883 he had become a council member of the [[Imperial Federation League]], a lobby group set up to support the imperialist ideas of the Colonial Secretary, [[Joseph Chamberlain]]. It was this connection, as well as the Tennyson name, that led Chamberlain to offer Tennyson the position of [[Governor of South Australia]] in 1899. He was still in this position in May 1902, when the Governor-General of Australia, the [[John Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow|Earl of Hopetoun]], suddenly announced his intention to resign.

==Governor-General of Australia==
[[File:Ac.tennyson.jpg|thumb|right|Tennyson in his viceregal uniform]]
Tennyson was the senior state governor at the time of Hopetoun's announcement, and thus became [[Administrator of the Government of Australia|Administrator of the Government]] upon his departure from Australia on 17 July 1902. There were some doubts about his ability to fill the job on a permanent basis since he had little experience of politics. But he had made a good impression in Australia through his modesty and frugality, unlike the ostentatiously imperious Hopetoun. In December 1902 he accepted the post for, at his own suggestion, a one-year appointment only.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27502 |page=8509 |date=9 December 1902 }}</ref>

The new Governor-General was popular and got on with Australians far better than his predecessor had done. But problems arose through the ambiguity of his position. The Prime Minister, [[Alfred Deakin]], insisted that the [[Official Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia|Governor-General's official secretary]] must be appointed and paid by the Australian government. The British government objected (privately) because this would mean that the Governor-General could not carry out what was seen in London as his broader role in supervising the Australian government. Tennyson shared this view.

As a result, relations between Deakin and Tennyson grew tense. Deakin correctly suspected that Tennyson was reporting on him to London and trying to interfere on matters of policy, such as the naval agreement between Britain and Australia. For this reason Deakin did not encourage Tennyson to seek an extension of his one-year term. None of this was known to the public and Tennyson left Australia in January 1904 to universal expressions of approval.

==Retirement and death==
[[File:Lord Tennyson (Rivière).jpg|thumb|right|''Lord Tennyson'' (1908, [[Briton Rivière]])]]
Tennyson spent the rest of his life at Farringford, serving as deputy [[Governor of the Isle of Wight]] from 1913. His wife died in 1916, and in 1918 he remarried to Mary "May" Emily Prinsep (1853–1931). She was the daughter of Charles Robert Prinsep, Indian-born [[Advocate general|Advocate-General]] of Calcutta and later the owner of a large [[nutmeg]] plantation in [[Singapore]], and niece of Sir Henry Thoby Prinsep, who adopted her when she was eleven upon her father's death. Tennyson was May Prinsep's second husband; her first husband was Andrew Hichens (d. 1906). The [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]] has eight photographs of May Prinsep, taken by her relative [[Julia Margaret Cameron]] on the Isle of Wight.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120906172327/http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?LinkID=mp86999&rNo=0&role=sit 'Christabel,' Mary Emily 'May' Prinsep, Julia Margaret Cameron, albumen print on gold-edged cabinet, 1866, Photographs Collection, National Portrait Gallery, npg.org.uk]</ref>

Tennyson bequeathed many of his father's notebooks to [[Trinity College, Cambridge|Trinity College]] in 1924.<ref name=":0" />

He had three sons by his first wife: 

* [[Lionel Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson|Lionel Hallam Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson]] (7 November 1889 – 6 June 1951), married Hon. [[Clare Tennant]], daughter of [[Edward Tennant, 1st Baron Glenconner]]; remarried to Carroll Donner (née Elting)
* [[Captain]] Hon. Alfred Aubrey Tennyson (1891–1918), [[killed in action]] during [[World War I]]
* [[Sub-lieutenant|Sub-Lieutenant]] Hon. Harold Courtenay Tennyson (1896–1916), [[killed in action]] during [[World War I]]

Tennyson died at Farringford on 2 December 1928.

==Commemoration==
* A large oil portrait of Tennyson hangs in [[Admiralty House, Kirribilli]].
* Tennyson's coat of arms is painted in the entry foyer of [[Government House, Sydney]].
* Tennyson endowed £100 to the [[University of Adelaide]] in 1900 to establish the Tennyson Medal, as an award for the  student who achieves the highest result in English Literary Studies in the final year of secondary education in South Australia.<ref>[https://www.sace.sa.edu.au/documents/652891/895fb6a2-34ab-74a1-fa34-e2ee31b5abc0 Minister awards Tennyson Medal to SA’s top English student] SACE Board of South Australia, 6 February 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2025.</ref><ref>[https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/415867 Item NU 34813 Medal - Tennyson Prize, University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, 1900] Museums Victoria.  Retrieved 10 February 2025.</ref>

==Arms==
{{Emblem table
| name = Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson<ref>{{cite book |title=Debrett's peerage, baronetage, knightage, and companionage |date=1903 |publisher=London : Dean & Son |page=798, TENNYSON, BARON. (Tennyson.) |url=https://archive.org/details/b24883797/page/n843/mode/1up |access-date=26 June 2022}} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Burke |first1=Bernard |last2=Burke |first2=Ashworth P. |title=A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage and Companionage |date=1915 |publisher=London : Harrison & Sons |pages=1945–1946, TENNYSON |edition=77th |url=https://archive.org/details/b3136410x/page/1946/mode/1up |access-date=26 June 2022}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
| image = TennysonArms.png
| imagesize = 
| notes = 
| year_adopted = 
| coronet = 
| crest = A dexter [[Charge (heraldry)#Human parts|arm]] in armour, the hand in a [[Gauntlet (glove)|gauntlet]] [[Or (heraldry)|or]], grasping a broken [[Lance#Other weapons|tilting spear]] enfiled with a [[garland]] of [[Lauraceae|laurel]].
| torse = 
| helm = 
| escutcheon = [[Gules]], a [[Bend (heraldry)|bend]] [[nebuly]] or, thereon a [[Chaplet (headgear)|chaplet]] vert, between three [[Leopard (heraldry)|leopard's]] [[Heads in heraldry|heads]] [[jessant-de-lys]] of the second.
| supporters = Two leopards [[Attitude (heraldry)#Rampant|rampant]] [[Attitude (heraldry)#Positions indicating direction|guardant]] gules, [[Variation of the field#Semé|semée de lys]] and [[Dukes in the United Kingdom#Coronet|ducally crowned]] or.
| compartment = 
| motto = {{lang|la|Respiciens Prospiciens}} (Look backward and forward)
| orders = 
| other_elements = 
| bannerimage = 
| banner = 
| badgeimage = 
| badge = 
| symbolism = 
| previous_versions = 
| other_versions = [[Achievement (heraldry)|Full achievements]]: [[File:Tennyson CoA.png|100px]]
}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Commons|Hallam Tennyson}}
*{{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First= Hallam|Last=Tennyson|shortlink=0-dict-biogT-V.html#tennyson1}}

==External links==
* {{Gutenberg author | id=39461| name=Hallam Tennyson}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Hallam Tennyson}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-gov}}
{{succession box | before=[[Sir Thomas Buxton, 3rd Baronet|Sir Thomas Buxton]] | title=[[Governor of South Australia]] | after=[[George Le Hunte|Sir George Le Hunte]] | years=1899–1902}}
{{succession box | before=[[John Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow|The Marquess of Linlithgow]] | title=[[Governor-General of Australia]] | years=1903–1904 | after=[[Henry Northcote, 1st Baron Northcote|The Lord Northcote]]}}
{{s-reg|uk}}
{{succession box | before=[[Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson|Alfred Tennyson]] | title=[[Baron Tennyson]] | after=[[Lionel Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson|Lionel Tennyson]] | years=1892–1928}}
{{s-end}}

{{Governors-General of Australia}}
{{Governors of South Australia}}
{{Alfred Tennyson}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tennyson, Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron}}
[[Category:1852 births]]
[[Category:1928 deaths]]
[[Category:Governors-general of Australia]]
[[Category:Governors of South Australia]]
[[Category:Governors of the Colony of South Australia]]
[[Category:Barons Tennyson|2]]
[[Category:People from Twickenham]]
[[Category:People educated at Marlborough College]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Translators from Old English]]
[[Category:Tennyson family|Hallam]]
[[Category:British colonial governors and administrators in Oceania]]