Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson
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Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson (11 August 1852-2 December 1928), second Governor-General of Australia, was born at Chapel House, Twickenham, in Surrey, England. He was the elder son of Alfred Tennyson, the most popular and prominent poet of late Victorian England. Hallam was educated at Marlborough College and Trinity College, Cambridge, but his 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 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.
Like his famous father, Tennyson was an ardent imperialist, and 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 when the Governor-General, the Earl of Hopetoun, resigned suddenly in July 1902.
Tennyson was the senior state Governor and thus became acting Governor-General. 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 January 1903 he accepted the post for, at his own suggestion, a one-year appointment only.
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 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 (rightly) 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. He never held public office again, and spent the rest of his life living as a country gentleman in the Isle of Wight, where he died in December 1928.
| Preceded by: Sir Thomas Buxton | Governor of South Australia 1899–1902 | Succeeded by: Sir George Le Hunte |
| Preceded by: The Earl of Hopetoun | Governor-General of Australia 1903–1904 | Succeeded by: The Lord Northcote |
| Preceded by: Alfred Tennyson | Baron Tennyson | Succeeded by: Lionel Tennyson |
| Governors-General of Australia | Missing image Australia_flag_large.png |
|---|---|
| Hopetoun | Tennyson | Northcote | Dudley | Denman | Munro-Ferguson | Forster | Stonehaven | Isaacs | Gowrie | Gloucester | McKell Slim | Dunrossil | De L'Isle | Casey | Hasluck | Kerr | Cowen | Stephen | Hayden | Deane | Hollingworth | Jeffery | |
| Missing image Hopetoun.jpg Lord Hopetoun Missing image Ac.tennyson.jpg Lord Tennyson Missing image Ac.northcote.jpg Lord Northcote Missing image Ac.dudley.jpg Lord Dudley Missing image Ac.denman.jpg Lord Denman Missing image Ac.munroferguson.jpg Sir Ronald Munro-Ferguson Missing image Ac.forster.jpg Lord Forster Missing image Ac.stonehaven.jpg Lord Stonehaven Missing image Ac.isaacs.jpg Sir Isaac Isaacs Missing image Ac.gowrie.jpg Lord Gowrie Missing image Ac.gloucester.jpg The Duke of Gloucester Missing image Ac.mckell.jpg Sir William McKell Missing image Ac.slim.jpg William Slim Missing image Ac.dunrossil.jpg Lord Dunrossil Missing image Ac.delisle.jpg Lord De L'Isle Missing image Ac.casey.jpg Lord Casey Missing image Ac.hasluck.jpg Sir Paul Hasluck Missing image Ac.kerr.jpg Sir John Kerr Missing image Ac.cowen.jpg Sir Zelman Cowen Missing image Ac.ninianstephen.jpg Sir Ninian Stephen Missing image Ac.hayden.jpg Hon Bill Hayden Missing image Ac.williamdeane.jpg Sir William Deane Missing image Hollingworth.jpg Dr Peter Hollingworth Missing image Ac.jeffery.jpg Maj-Gen Michael Jeffery | |