Nathaniel Kent (1737–1810) was an English land valuer and agriculturist.

Life

Nathaniel Kent was baptized in Andover on 8 February 1737, the youngest son of Ambrose Kent and Mary Sylverthorn. He was first employed in the diplomatic service as secretary to Sir James Porter at

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. During his time there he studied the husbandry of the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Ras ...

, at that time thought to be the best in Europe. The acquaintance of

Benjamin Stillingfleet Benjamin Stillingfleet (1702–1771) was an English botanist, polymath, and author. Life Benjamin Stillingfleet was born in 1702 in Wood Norton, Norfolk to Mary Ann and Edward Stillingfleet. He was one of four children, and the only son.I. ...

, the naturalist, was valuable to him. Kent's published writings brought him employment on a large scale as an estate agent and land valuer, and he worked to improve English methods of land management. His subsequent work in agriculture was mainly in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, but he also suggested extensive embankments in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, which were successfully carried out. He was for a short time

bailiff A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary. Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...

of George III's farm in the

Windsor Great Park Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of to the south of the town of Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, Windsor, Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park ...

. On 25 Nov 1766, at St. James, Piccadilly, Kent married Miss Ann Powell. Their offspring included:
1) Marianne, baptized at All Saints Fullham on 28 Sept 1769, buried at Buxton, Norfolk, on 21 Mar 1773
2) Sophia, baptized at All Saints Fulham on 10 Oct 1772, married to Charles Adams at St Martin in the Fields, Westminster, on 22 Jan 1803 The widowed Kent married Miss Armine North, granddaughter of Roger North, on 10 April 1783. Their children included:
1) Charles, born 28 May 1784 at Fulham
2) George, born 24 Sep 1787 at Fulham
3) Thomas (grandfather of the poet Armine Thomas Kent and first husband of the second wife of Bishop Charles James Blomfield), born 31 Mar 1790, died 1818
4) Harriet (who married Alexandre T Sampayo in 1820), born 19 Mar 1793, died 1857
Kent died of

apoplexy Apoplexy () refers to the rupture of an internal organ and the associated symptoms. Informally or metaphorically, the term ''apoplexy'' is associated with being furious, especially as "apoplectic". Historically, it described what is now known as a ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, 10 October 1810 and was buried at All Saints Church, Fulham on 16 October.

Works

Some of Kent's letters to Sir James Porter, dated 1765 and 1766. are in the Egerton Manuscripts 2157. Returning to England in 1766, he drew up an account of Flemish husbandry at the request of Sir John Cust, the

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

, who persuaded Kent to devote himself to agriculture. Kent published in 1775 ''Hints to Gentlemen of Landed Property'' (3rd edition 1793) with coverage going as far as labourers' cottages. He contributed ''A General View of the Agriculture of the County of Norfolk'' to the '' Survey'' issued by the Board of Agriculture in 1794 (and supplementary remarks, Norwich, 1796), and papers in Alexander Hunter's ''Georgical Essays'', York, 1803. Details on the king's farm, communicated by him to the

Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

in 1798, were subsequently published as a pamphlet.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Nathaniel 1737 births 1810 deaths 18th-century English writers English agricultural writers Burials at All Saints Church, Fulham People from Andover, Hampshire Writers from Hampshire