Father Charles Roger Tennant (Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

, 8 April 1919 - 30 June 2003) was an Anglican Priest, biographer of Joseph Conrad

Joseph Conrad

Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...

, and historian of Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

.

In 1936 he came to England to study aircraft design with Noel Pemberton Billing

Noel Pemberton Billing

Noel Pemberton Billing was an English aviator, inventor, publisher, and Member of Parliament. He founded the firm that became Supermarine and promoted air power, but he held a strong antipathy towards the Royal Aircraft Factory and its products...

, writing two Planes Explained booklets During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 he served in the 6th Airborne Division of the Parachute Regiment in France.

After the war he entered Lincoln Theological College

Lincoln Theological College

Lincoln Theological College was a theological college in Lincoln, United Kingdom.-History:It opened on 25 January 1874. It was also known as Scholae Cancellarii. The building on Drury Lane closed in 1995, after having its permit for ordination training withdrawn by the Church of England due to low...

 and became curate at St Peter's Church, Belgrave, Leicester in 1951. In 1954 he answered Bishop Alfred Cecil Cooper

Alfred Cecil Cooper

Alfred Cecil Cooper was the fourth Bishop in Korea from 1931 until 1954. Born in 1882 and educated at Bradfield College and Christ's College, Cambridge, he was ordained in 1907. After a curacy at St Oswald's, West Hartlepool he spent the rest of his active ministry in Korea...

's appeal for Anglican priests to go to Korea. After language study in 1954-1956, alongside Richard Rutt, Bishop John Daly

John Daly (bishop)

John Charles Sydney Daly was an Anglican bishop in Africa and Asia for fifty years.-Education:Educated at Gresham's School, Holt, and Cambridge University, Daly was ordained as a Church of England deacon and priest in 1923.-Career:...

 assigned him to Chincheon, then in 1959 to Anjeong-ri near Pyeongtaek

Pyeongtaek

Pyeongtaek is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Located in the southwestern part of the province, Pyeongtaek was founded as a union of two districts in 940 AD, during the Goryeo dynasty. It was elevated to city status in 1986, and is home to a South Korean naval base and a large...

.

In 1962 he became vicar of the village of Bitteswell

Bitteswell

Bitteswell is a small village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire in England. It is close to Lutterworth, and situated just to the north of that town, and in the 2001 census had a population of 454. It was recorded in the Domesday Book as Betmeswelle.It was the site of...

, near Lutterworth

Lutterworth

Lutterworth is a market town and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The town is located in southern Leicestershire, north of Rugby, in Warwickshire and south of Leicester. It had a population of 8,293 in the 2001 UK census....

, retiring in 1988 to Ullesthorpe

Ullesthorpe

Ullesthorpe is a small village in south Leicestershire, England. It has a population of 868.It is known for its windmill which is currently undergoing restoration. Its name comes from the Scandinavian personal name Úlfr...

, where he wrote A History of Korea (1996).

Publications

• Born of a Woman 1961 - a life of Christ which finished at the crucifixion.
• Joseph Conrad, a life published in 1981.
• Cast on a Certain Island a novel, Doubleday, New York, 1970. Originally published as The Litany of St Charles Michael Joseph, 1968.
• A History of Korea 1996 - according to Richard Rutt "the first book of its kind to appear in English, and still not rivalled by any other."