Thomas Tennison

Who is Thomas Tennison?

Thomas Tennison or Tenison was an Irish politician and judge: he served as Prime Serjeant and as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas and sat in the Irish House of Commons as member for Dunleer.

He was born in Dillonstown, County Louth, son of Henry Tennison, Member of Parliament for Louth and grandson of Richard Tennison, Bishop of Meath; his mother was Anne Moore of County Fermanagh. His father was a wealthy landowner of intellectual tastes, who was part of the circle which revolved around Esther Johnson, the Stella of Jonathan Swift.

He married the heiress Dorothy Upton, daughter of Thomas Upton, Member of Parliament for Antrim, and cousin of the first Baron Templetown.

He went to school in Dublin and matriculated from the University of Dublin in 1725. He entered Middle Temple in 1726 and was called to the Irish Bar in 1728. He acted as a Commissioner for Revenue appeals and became Prime Serjeant in 1759. Two years later he was appointed to the Common Pleas. He died in 1779.

He represented Dunleer in the Parliament of Ireland from 1728 to 1760 and from April to December, 1761.