TENNYSON, Hallam, 2nd Baron Tennyson (1852-1928)

second governor-general of Australia

son of the poet Tennyson and his wife, Emily Sellwood, was born at Twickenham, London, on 11 August 1852. He was educated at Marlborough, Trinity College, Cambridge, and the Inner Temple, but did not take up any profession. He acted as private secretary to his father, and after his death in October 1892, wrote his biography, published in two volumes in 1897. Early in 1899 Tennyson was appointed governor of South Australia, and though he had had no experience of official work, his frank manner and ability made a very good impression. When Lord Hopetoun (q.v.) unexpectedly resigned as governor-general of Australia in July 1902, Tennyson was asked to become acting governor-general, and from January 1903 was governor-general. He, however, resigned at the end of that year, and returned to England. He edited a volume of reminiscences of his father, Tennyson and his Friends, published in 1911, and also edited collections of his father's poems. His later years were clouded by the death in action of his youngest son in January 1916, his wife's death at the end of that year, and his second son's death in action in March 1918. He died at Freshwater, Isle of Wight, on 2 December 1928. He married (1) in 1884, Audrey Georgina Florence, daughter of Charles John Boyle, and (2) in 1918, Mary Emily, daughter of C. R. Prinsep and widow of A. K. Hichens, who survived him. His eldest son, Lionel Hallam, well-known as a cricketer and captain of England against Australia, became the third baron.

Tennyson's devotion to his father gave him little opportunity of coming into public notice. During his two short terms as a governor in Australia he was both capable and popular. His biography of his father was a conscientious piece of work, but though complete it is somewhat colourless. He was president of the Royal Literary Fund and of the Folk Lore Society, a member of the privy council, and from 1913 deputy governor of the Isle of Wight.

The Times, 3 December 1928; Burke's Peerage etc., 1929; Harold Tennyson, R. N.; Lionel Lord Tennyson, From Verse to Worse.