James Francis Tennant

Lieutenant-General James Francis Tennant, CIE, FRS (10 January 1829 – 6 March 1915) was a British soldier and astronomer.

The son of Brigadier-General Sir James Tennant and Elizabeth (née Paterson),[1] and was educated at the East India Company's Military Seminary at Addiscombe from 1845 to 1847.

In 1859, when he rejoined the survey, he was given the directorship of the Madras Observatory where his interest in astronomy started.

[3] He was noted for being an observer for the Royal Astronomical Society for the solar eclipse of 17 August 1868 across the Indian peninsula,[4] and that of 11 December 1871 across southern India, and later the transit of Venus of 1874.

In 1876 he was appointed Master of the Calcutta Mint, a position he held until his retirement in 1882, when he returned to England.