John Kent

John Kent (1805 – September 1, 1872) was an Irish-born politician who served as the second Premier of the Newfoundland Colony.

Early life

Kent was born in County Waterford, Ireland in 1805. He arrived in St. John's, Newfoundland in 1820 as an employee of his uncle, Patrick Morris, a successful businessman and political reformer. Kent had become well-known in St. John's in his own right by 1830 as an auctioneer. He had a close relationship with Catholic Bishop Michael Anthony Fleming, who became Kent's brother-in-law upon his marriage to Fleming's sister Johanna Fleming in 1834.

Politics

Kent was involved in the movement for electoral reform led by his uncle Patrick Morris and William Carson. When the British Colonial Office granted representative government to Newfoundland in 1832, he was elected to the first House of Assembly as a Liberal with the help of Bishop Fleming. Kent expressed dissatisfaction with the constitution of the time, believing it was "half-developed" and gave too much power to the small Council comprising the legislature's upper house.

Kent's electioneering was a compound of his own strident vitality, intimidation, and clerical influence. Newfoundland in 1832 had virtually universal suffrage under a household franchise, and it was not difficult to secure election by turbulent, and very effective means. Kent was of the school of Reformers who relished quarrels with authority. source= Waite on Kent's advocacy for Catholic rights, 1972 Kent's fiery rhetoric brought him into conflict with local surgeon Edward Kielley, who threatened to assault him in August 1838. The resulting legal case, Kielley v. Carson, lasted for several years. While the Supreme Court of Newfoundland found Kielley guilty, their decision was overruled by the Privy Council in 1842, which ruled that parliamentary privileges enjoyed in the House of Commons did not necessarily extend to colonial legislatures.

Kent was nominated to the Council in 1842 under the amalgamated legislature instituted by Governor John Harvey, but he returned to the House when they were separated again in 1848. That year, he was elected as the Speaker of the House of Assembly.

Kent's government was engulfed by crisis in 1861 when Receiver General Thomas Glen filed a motion to lower the salary of government officials. When this bill faced legal threats from various government employees, Kent accused Governor Bannerman of colluding with the Conservative Party and the aforementioned judges. After Bannerman asked for clarification on what Kent meant and Kent refused to elaborate, Kent's government was dissolved on March 1, 1861, and Conservative leader Hugh Hoyles was appointed Premier in his stead.

Kent spent his last few years in the House of Assembly as a supporter of Newfoundland's confederation into Canada. He was amongst the delegates sent to Ottawa in 1869 to discuss the possibility of Confederation. He retired that same year and did not run in the 1869 election.

Death Kent died suddenly in St. John's on September 1, 1872. His wife Johanna and at least two of their children survived him.