Career
He was influential in establishing a large Irish population on the island. He was elected to the first House of Assembly in 1832 as a Liberal. He worked for the reform movement along with William Carson and Morris that successfully persuaded the British Colonial Office to institute responsible government in Newfoundland.
Kent became Colonial Secretary under Philip Francis Little.
From 1848 to 1855 he was Speaker of the Newfoundland House of Assembly. He became Premier after Little resigned in 1858.
In the legislature Kent accused Governor Sir Alexander Bannerman and the opposition Conservatives of conspiring with the judges against the government. Bannerman responded by dismissing the Kent"s government in March 1861 and installing Hugh Hoyles as Premier of a Conservative government.
