 This referring to the occupation on which Tennant had embarked, namely silk weaving, being apprenticed at the village of Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire.Charles was the ninth of John Tennant's sixteen children.As a baby, he moved from Laigh corton farm to Glenconner, Ochiltree, Ayrshire

He was fortunate to receive schooling both at home and at the Ochiltree parish school.