Lt. Edward Wyndham Tennant (1 July 1897 – 22 September 1916), was an English war poet

War poet

A War poet is a poet writing in time of and on the subject of war. The term, which is applied especially to those in military service during World War I, was documented as early as 1848 in reference to German revolutionary poet, Georg Herwegh.-Crimean War:...

, killed at the Battle of the Somme

Battle of the Somme (1916)

The Battle of the Somme , also known as the Somme Offensive, took place during the First World War between 1 July and 14 November 1916 in the Somme department of France, on both banks of the river of the same name...

.

He was the son of Edward Tennant, who became Lord Glenconner

Baron Glenconner

Baron Glenconner, of The Glen in the County of Peebles, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1911 for Sir Edward Tennant, 2nd Baronet, who had earlier represented Salisbury in the House of Commons as a Liberal and also served as Lord Lieutenant of Peeblesshire. Lord...

 in 1911, and Pamela Wyndham, a writer, Lady Glenconner and later wife of Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon

Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon

Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon KG, PC, FZL, DL , better known as Sir Edward Grey, Bt, was a British Liberal statesman. He served as Foreign Secretary from 1905 to 1916, the longest continuous tenure of any person in that office...

. His younger brother was the eccentric, 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:...

.

He was educated at Winchester College

Winchester College

Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...

, which he left aged 17. He joined the Grenadier Guards

Grenadier Guards

The Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...

.

He was known to friends and family as Bim. It is unknown where this nickname derives from. It has been suggested that he was engaged at one point to Nancy Cunard

Nancy Cunard

Nancy Clara Cunard was a writer, heiress and political activist. She was born into the British upper class but strongly rejected her family's values, devoting much of her life to fighting racism and fascism...

. That this is untrue has been confirmed by two reliable sources: Colin Tennant, 3rd Baron Glenconner, who responded to this question by letter, and Lois Gordon, Nancy Cunard's biographer, who, in her extensive research, never came across any hint of such an alliance.

Bim Tennant is buried in France at Guillemont Road Communal Cemetery close to his friend Raymond Asquith

Raymond Asquith

Raymond Asquith was an English barrister and eldest son and heir of British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith by his first wife Helen Kelsall Melland .- Career and honours :...

who was killed the week before.

Works

• Verses by A Child (private printing, 1909)
• Worple Flit and other poems (printed posthumously, 1916)

External links

• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSsp=46614733&GRid=12251516&
• Edward Wyndham Tennant - A Memoir by his mother Pamela Glenconner at OpenLibrary.org. With a photo of E. W. Tennant on page 171.