Eliza Kent (1760 – 29 January 1810) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

traveller and writer. It is thought that Eliza was the first European woman to have official duties in Australia as "First Lady" to her husband's uncle who was the second Governor of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. She spent five years travelling on board a ship and wrote about her visit to

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

and one of her voyages from New South Wales to England.

Life

Kent's father William was from Newcastle and she is said to have received several offers before she married

William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, b ...

who was in the navy and he was her cousin. They married in Newcastle in 1791 and their first child was born in 1792 who they named after John Hunter. At the beginning of 1795 the family set off on under her husband's command bound for

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

en route to

. They arrived in Sydney where William's uncle

John Hunter John Hunter may refer to: Politics *John Hunter (British politician) (1724–1802), British Member of Parliament for Leominster * John Hunter (Canadian politician) (1909–1993), Canadian Liberal MP for Parkdale, 1949–1957 *Sir John Hunter ( ...

joined the party. On 16 February, they sailed for

accompanied by Captain John Hunter in . Hunter was the new and only the second governor of the colony. Hunter was a single man, so Eliza would take up the role of "First Lady" at the governor's receptions. It is thought that Eliza was the first European woman to have official duties in Australia. The ships arrived at

on 7 September, and for the next five years Kent was employed in the service of the colony, making voyages to

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...

and the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

, and surveying parts of the coast of New South Wales. In 1800 Governor Hunter returned to London on board HMS ''Buffalo'' with her husband as the captain and she and their family were on board. When they reached the UK they returned almost immediately, but they left their three children in the UK. She was on that ship for five years as once back in Australia they set out for New Caledonia and then to Calcutta. Whilst she was in New Caledonia she wrote to her mother about life there. In 1807 she wrote for the Athenaeum magazine about life in New Caledonia as it was an area of the world that few people knew about. This was followed by another piece that described her return journey of 1800–1801. She died on 29 January 1810 in London. She was survived by her husband and three of their children who although born in Australia were still in the United Kingdom. Their son, William, was lacking in money until he returned to Australia to find his inheritance. William and Eliza had built a large house whilst they were in Australia. Their daughter Penelope was mentioned in John Hunter's will because she had cared for him in his old age.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Eliza British travel writers British women travel writers 1760 births 1810 deaths Writers from Newcastle, New South Wales