John Brent
BiographyJohn Brent (1808–1882) was an English antiquary and novelist, more well-known as the former than the latter. Born in Rotherhithe, London, August 21, 1808, he was the eldest son of a shipbuilder of the same name. His father removed to Canterbury about 1821 and became thrice mayor of the city and deputy-lieutenant of the county. His mother was Susannah, third daughter of the Rev. Sampson Kingsford of Sturry, near Canterbury.
In his early days he carried on the business of a miller, occupied for many years a seat on the council of the Canterbury corporation, and was elected an alderman but resigned that position on being appointed city treasurer. During the course of a long life, Brent was indefatigable in his attempts to throw light on the history of the city and county in which he dwelt, and became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in April 1853. He was also a member of the British Archaeological Association and of the Kent Archaeological Society. After the failure of the November Uprising (Polish-Russian War 1830–31), Brent became the local secretary of the Polish Association. He died at his house on the Dane John, Canterbury, April 23, 1882.
His contributions to antiquarian literature are mostly to be found in the various publications of the societies to which he belonged. To the forty-first volume of the Archæologia he communicated a paper of value to ethnological science, being an account of his “Researches in an Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Stowting, in Kent, during the autumn of 1866.” In 1855 Brent had published a revised edition of Felix Summerly’s Handbook for Canterbury, and in 1875 there appeared his Catalogue of the Antiquities in the Canterbury Museum, of which he was honorary curator. His work Canterbury in the Olden Time, from its research and originality, bears testimony to his unwearied industry and his ability as an antiquarian topographer.
Bibliography
The Sea-Wolf, A Romance Of “The Free Traders” (novel, 1834)
Guillemette La Delanasse (poetry, 1840)
The Battle Cross, A Romance of the Fourteenth Century (novel in 3 vols., 1845)
Ellie Forestere (novel in 3 vols., 1850)
Sunbeams and Shadows (poetry, 1853)
Village Bells, Lady Gwendoline, and other Poems (poetry, 1868)
Atalanta, Winnie, and other Poems (poetry, 1873)
Justine (poetry, 1884)