author
Baron Hallam Tennyson Tennyson
1852–1928
Best remembered as the son and biographer of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, he also stepped onto the public stage himself as Governor of South Australia and then as Australia’s second governor-general. His life joined literary memory with imperial politics in a way that still makes for a fascinating story.
1 Audiobook
Jack and the Bean-Stalk: English Hexameters
by Baron Hallam Tennyson Tennyson
About the author
Born in Twickenham on 11 August 1852, Hallam Tennyson was the elder son of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and Emily Sellwood. He inherited the barony after his father’s death in 1892 and became one of the chief preservers of the poet’s legacy, editing and writing about his father’s life and work.
He is especially known in literary history for Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by His Son, published in 1897. That book helped shape how readers understood the famous poet, and it gave Hallam Tennyson his own lasting place in English literary biography.
His career also reached far beyond books. He served as Governor of South Australia from 1899 to 1902, then became Australia’s second governor-general, serving from 1903 to 1904. Contemporary accounts describe him as a capable and well-liked public figure, remembered for a steady, modest style rather than grand display.