Colin Tennant, 3rd Baron Glenconner
Encyclopedia
Colin Christopher Paget Tennant, 3rd Baron Glenconner (1 December 1926 – 27 August 2010) was a Scottish
noble. He was the son of Christopher Grey Tennant, 2nd Baron Glenconner and Pamela Winefred Paget. Furthermore, he was the nephew of Edward Wyndham Tennant
and Stephen Tennant
, and the brother of novelist Emma Tennant
.
Before succeeding the peerage, he had been a great traveller, most notably in India
and the West Indies. He was a close friend of Princess Margaret, to whom his wife was a lady-in-waiting
, and an avid socialite. In 1958, he bought the Island of Mustique
in The Grenadines for $45,000.
In 1960 the British Royal yacht Britannia
was sailing the Caribbean
with newlyweds Princess Margaret
and Lord Snowdon
on board. The royal couple went ashore on Mustique
to accept a wedding gift from Tennant, a plot of land, where Princess Margaret was to build her holiday retreat "Les Jolies Eaux".
The cost of running Mustique
depleted Glenconner's family fortune and he took on business partners. Eventually, he went into exile on St. Lucia, where he ran for many years the "Bang Between the Pitons" restaurant (now sold to the adjacent Jalousie Plantation hotel).
In 2000 a documentary by Joseph Bullman was made about Lord Glenconner entitled The Man Who Bought Mustique. It chronicled Glenconner's first visit back to Mustique since his exile.
. At the wedding the also present Princess Margaret met for the first time Tony Armstrong-Jones (later her ex-husband), who was hired to take wedding pictures.
The Lord and Lady Glenconner had five children:
He inherited the peerage title and the Tennant Baronetcy, along with the family's Scottish estate of The Glen
, in 1983, on the death of his father.
The couple came to divide their time between their house on St. Lucia and their home in England
.
Together with his daughter May and her husband Anton, Glenconner began to develop the Beau Estate property between the Pitons.
As his eldest son Hon. Charles Edward Pevensey Tennant (1957–1996) predeceased him, Glenconnor was succeeded by his grandson, Cody Charles Edward Tennant (b. 2 February 1994).
In December 2009, Tennant, then aged 83, learned that he was also father to London psychotherapist Joshua Bowler. Bowler's mother, the artists' model and bohemian
Henrietta Moraes
, had become pregnant following a weekend spent with Tennant after the New Year's Eve 1954 Chelsea Arts Club
Ball. However, she never told Tennant about the pregnancy, and married the actor Norman Bowler
seven months later; the couple divorced two and a half years after that. After Moraes' death in 1999, Bowler decided to investigate his parentage, and wrote to Tennant after a mutual friend recalled seeing the young Tennant and Moraes leave the 1954 ball together. A paternity test revealed that Tennant was indeed Bowler's father, news that Tennant looked upon as “quite magical.” Tennant later hosted a family party to welcome and introduce Joshua Bowler to the Glenconner clan, and announced his intention to recognise him in his will.
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
noble. He was the son of Christopher Grey Tennant, 2nd Baron Glenconner and Pamela Winefred Paget. Furthermore, he was the nephew of Edward Wyndham Tennant
Edward Wyndham Tennant
Lt. Edward Wyndham Tennant , was an English war poet, killed at the Battle of the Somme.He was the son of Edward Tennant, who became Lord Glenconner in 1911, and Pamela Wyndham, a writer, Lady Glenconner and later wife of Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon...
and Stephen Tennant
Stephen Tennant
Stephen James Napier Tennant was a British aristocrat known for his decadent lifestyle. It is said, albeit apocryphally, that he spent most of his life in bed.-Early life:...
, and the brother of novelist Emma Tennant
Emma Tennant
Emma Christina Tennant FRSL is a British novelist and editor. She is known for a postmodern approach to her fiction, which is often imbued with fantasy or magic. Several of her novels give a feminist or dreamlike twist to classic stories, such as Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr....
.
Before succeeding the peerage, he had been a great traveller, most notably in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and the West Indies. He was a close friend of Princess Margaret, to whom his wife was a lady-in-waiting
Lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...
, and an avid socialite. In 1958, he bought the Island of Mustique
Mustique
Mustique is a small private island in the West Indies. The island is one of a group of islands called the Grenadines, most of which form part of the country of St Vincent and the Grenadines....
in The Grenadines for $45,000.
Mustique
He built a new village for the island's inhabitants, planted coconut palms, vegetables and fruit and developed the fisheries.In 1960 the British Royal yacht Britannia
HMY Britannia
Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia is the former Royal Yacht of the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. She was the 83rd such vessel since the restoration of King Charles II in 1660. She is the second Royal yacht to bear the name, the first being the famous racing cutter built for The Prince of Wales...
was sailing the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
with newlyweds Princess Margaret
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon was the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II and the younger daughter of King George VI....
and Lord Snowdon
Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon
Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, GCVO, RDI is an English photographer and film maker. He was married to Princess Margaret, younger daughter of King George VI and younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II....
on board. The royal couple went ashore on Mustique
Mustique
Mustique is a small private island in the West Indies. The island is one of a group of islands called the Grenadines, most of which form part of the country of St Vincent and the Grenadines....
to accept a wedding gift from Tennant, a plot of land, where Princess Margaret was to build her holiday retreat "Les Jolies Eaux".
The cost of running Mustique
Mustique
Mustique is a small private island in the West Indies. The island is one of a group of islands called the Grenadines, most of which form part of the country of St Vincent and the Grenadines....
depleted Glenconner's family fortune and he took on business partners. Eventually, he went into exile on St. Lucia, where he ran for many years the "Bang Between the Pitons" restaurant (now sold to the adjacent Jalousie Plantation hotel).
In 2000 a documentary by Joseph Bullman was made about Lord Glenconner entitled The Man Who Bought Mustique. It chronicled Glenconner's first visit back to Mustique since his exile.
Further life
On 21 April 1956, he married Lady Anne Coke, daughter of Thomas Coke, 5th Earl of LeicesterThomas Coke, 5th Earl of Leicester
Major Thomas William Edward Coke, 5th Earl of Leicester married Lady Elizabeth Mary Yorke on 1 October 1931. He succeeded to the title of Earl of Leicester on 21 August 1949....
. At the wedding the also present Princess Margaret met for the first time Tony Armstrong-Jones (later her ex-husband), who was hired to take wedding pictures.
The Lord and Lady Glenconner had five children:
- Hon. Charles Edward Pevensey Tennant (b. 15 February 1957 - d. 1996) - his eldest son became the next baron
- Hon. Henry Lovell Tennant (b. 21 Feb 1960 - d. 1990)
- Hon. Christopher Cary Tennant (b. 1967) - current heir presumptive to the barony
- Hon. Flora Tennant (b. 1970)
- Hon. Amy Tennant (b. 1970)
He inherited the peerage title and the Tennant Baronetcy, along with the family's Scottish estate of The Glen
The Glen, Scottish Borders
The Glen, also known as Glen House, is an estate and country house in southern Scotland. It is located in the glen of the Quair Water, around south-west of Innerleithen, and south-east of Peebles, in the Scottish Borders. The estate is recorded from the 13th century, but the present Glen House...
, in 1983, on the death of his father.
The couple came to divide their time between their house on St. Lucia and their home in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Together with his daughter May and her husband Anton, Glenconner began to develop the Beau Estate property between the Pitons.
As his eldest son Hon. Charles Edward Pevensey Tennant (1957–1996) predeceased him, Glenconnor was succeeded by his grandson, Cody Charles Edward Tennant (b. 2 February 1994).
In December 2009, Tennant, then aged 83, learned that he was also father to London psychotherapist Joshua Bowler. Bowler's mother, the artists' model and bohemian
Bohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...
Henrietta Moraes
Henrietta Moraes
Henrietta Moraes was a British artists' model, bohémienne, and memoirist. During the 1950s and '60s, she was the muse and inspiration for many artists of the Soho subculture, like Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon, and known for her marriages and love affairs.A femme fatale and a bon vivant, she was...
, had become pregnant following a weekend spent with Tennant after the New Year's Eve 1954 Chelsea Arts Club
Chelsea Arts Club
The Chelsea Arts Club is a private members club located in London with a membership of over 2,400, including artists, poets, architects, writers, dancers, actors, musicians, photographers, and filmmakers...
Ball. However, she never told Tennant about the pregnancy, and married the actor Norman Bowler
Norman Bowler
Norman Clifford Bowler is a British actor.Born in London, son of a watch repairer in Mill Lane, NW6, he became a member of the 1950s Soho set alongside the likes of John Minton, Francis Bacon and Daniel Farson. There he met Henrietta Moraes, who divorced her first husband, Michael Law, and...
seven months later; the couple divorced two and a half years after that. After Moraes' death in 1999, Bowler decided to investigate his parentage, and wrote to Tennant after a mutual friend recalled seeing the young Tennant and Moraes leave the 1954 ball together. A paternity test revealed that Tennant was indeed Bowler's father, news that Tennant looked upon as “quite magical.” Tennant later hosted a family party to welcome and introduce Joshua Bowler to the Glenconner clan, and announced his intention to recognise him in his will.
External links
- Colin Tennant interview, Daily Mail, 27 December 2009
- Cotton House Hotel on Mustique
- Beau Estate
- The Man Who Bought Mustique
- The Mustique Company
- Firefly Hotel on Mustique
- St. Lucia Calling
- Stefan SzczesnyStefan SzczesnyStefan Szczesny is a German painter, draughtsman, and sculptor.He is best known for co-founding the Junge Wilde movement by, among other things, organizing the exhibition "Rundschau Deutschland" in 1981...