Harry Kent (architect)
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Harry Chambers Kent (1852–1938) was an English-born Australian architect. He was
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-based during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and a leader of his profession as President of the Institute of Architects of NSW (1906–07). During his career he was associated with the design of over 670 buildings. Many of his designs are heritage listed and two are on the
New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...
.


Early life

Kent was born in
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, the son of the Rev. Samuel Chambers Kent and his wife Emily Deacon. A year after his birth, the Kent family emigrated to Australia and the Reverend Kent was appointed
Principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Ser ...
of the Camden College in Newtown,
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 ...
. Harry Kent was educated at Camden College and the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
where he graduated with a Master of Arts in 1875. Before his graduation Kent was
articled Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulate ...
to
James Barnet James Johnstone Barnet, (1827 in Almericlose, Arbroath, Scotland – 16 December 1904 in Forest Lodge, Sydney, New South Wales) was the Colonial Architect for Colonial New South Wales, serving from 1862 to 1890. Early life Barnet was born ...
, the New South Wales Colonial Architect, and in 1873 to
John Horbury Hunt John Horbury Hunt (1838 – 30 December 1904), often referred to as Horbury Hunt, was a Canadian-born Australian architect who worked in Sydney and rural New South Wales from 1863. Life and career Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, the son of ...
.


Congregational Church

Kent and his extended family were all active Congregationalists at a time when that
Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...
was very influential in the upper middle classes of Sydney society and business. Much of his firm's work came from the church and members of its parishes. Despite his father leaving the church in 1879 for the
Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, originally known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. In 2016, responding to a peer-reviewed study ...
, Kent maintained a lifelong dedication to the
Congregational church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...
.


Strathfield

Kent was for many years a resident of
Strathfield Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A sma ...
, and designed a number of buildings in the district. These include: * ''Mount Royal'', Albert Road, 1887, now the
Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamation ...
; * ''Agincourt'', Albert Road, 1890, now Jesmond Nursing Home * Institute for Blind Women, Albert Road, 1891, now the
Catholic Institute of Sydney The Catholic Institute of Sydney, a tertiary educational facility that is a Partner Institution of the University of Notre Dame Australia, delivers theological courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. The institute is located in , in ...
; * ''Inglenook'' Margaret Street, 1893 (demolished); * ''Swanton'' Victoria Street, 1914 (demolished); * Alterations to Strathfield Council Chambers, Homebush Road, 1913; * First floor extensions to Strathfield Council Chambers, Homebush Road, 1921–23; * Strathfield Town Hall, Redmyre Road, 1923; Kent served as an Alderman on Strathfield Council from 1903 until 1905. He designed and built ''Kelmswood'', at 88–94 Redmyre Road in 1893 as his private residence, on the corner of Redmyre Road and Florence Street. Around 1916, Kent moved across the road to 86 Redmyre Road, and called the new house ''Kelmswood''. Kent's original house is now called ''Woodstock'' and has been converted to apartments.


Family

In 1886, Kent married Mary Louisa Elbury Jefferis, the daughter of the Reverend James Jefferis of the Pitt Street Congregational Church and Mary Louisa Elbury. They had two daughters, Gladys and Louise (Lulu), and a son, Geoffrey. His brother-in-law Harry Jefferis was articled to him and went on the practice architecture in Western Australia.


Architecture


Early work

When Kent was unable to find employment after graduation from university, he sought advice from
John Fairfax John Fairfax (24 October 1804 – 16 June 1877) was an English-born journalist, company director, politician, librarian and newspaper owner, known for the incorporation of the major newspapers of modern-day Australia. Early life Fairfax was bo ...
. With a recommendation from Fairfax, Kent managed to secure work with master builder John Young. During this time he worked on the construction of the
Department of Lands Building The Department of Lands building is a heritage-listed Government of New South Wales, state government administrative building of the Australian non-residential architectural styles#Victorian Renaissance Revival, Victorian Renaissance Revival arc ...
,
St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney The Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Mother of God, Help of Christians, locally known as Saint Mary's Cathedral, is a Catholic basilica and the seat of the Archdiocese of Sydney. The cathedral is dedicated to the Blessed Vi ...
and the
Garden Palace The Garden Palace was a large, purpose-built exhibition building constructed to house the Sydney International Exhibition in 1879 in Sydney, Australia. In 1882 it was completely destroyed by fire. It was designed by James Barnet and constructed ...
that was built for the
Sydney International Exhibition The Sydney International Exhibition was established headed by Lord Augustus Loftus and took place in Sydney in 1879, after being preceded by a number of Metropolitan Intercolonial Exhibitions through the 1870s in Prince Alfred Park. Organisa ...
of 1879. He went into private practice in 1882 and his first commission was the design of Eldon Chambers in
Pitt Street Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sect ...
, for Josiah Mullens. In 1886, Kent designed ''Caerleon'' in Bellevue Hill for the Fairfax family, only to have it redesigned by Maurice B. Adams in the Queen Anne style (this made it the first Queen Anne home in Australia). Accepting the inevitable changes, Kent agreed to supervise the construction of his made-over design, but was then outraged when Adams exhibited the design in London as his own work. In 1890, Kent designed the main school building at the
Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney The Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney (PLC Sydney) is an independent Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primary and Secondary school, secondary school for girls, located in Croydon, New South Wales, Croydon, an Inner West ...
. An important early residential design was ''Lincluden'' at 12 Fairfax Road, Bellevue Hill, for
Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...
Thomas Anderson Stuart. The home was constructed 1896–97 and is heritage-listed. In 1895, Kent designed his first major warehouse. The Farmers & Graziers No. 1 Woolstore building is a 3 & 4-storey Federation style warehouse constructed of face brickwork with sandstone detailing and timber windows and doors. It has in recent years been converted into residential apartments.


Kent and Budden

In 1899, Kent entered into partnership with his former student,
Henry Budden Henry "Harry" Ebenezer Budden (11 August 1871 – 25 December 1944) was a Sulman Award winning Australians, Australian architect active in the first 40 years of the 20th century. His work encompassed the styles of the Australian architectural ...
and the firm became known as Kent & Budden. Buildings of this partnership include: *
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, wool store, 330 Wattle Street and 89 Jones Street, Ultimo, 1906; * ''Cheyne'', 21 Redmyre Road,
Strathfield Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A sma ...
1906; * ''Emu Creek'', Emu Creek Road, Walcha, 1908; * ''Kent House'',
Liverpool Street, Sydney Liverpool Street is a street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. Liverpool Street runs east–west in the southern portion of the central business district and forms the southern boundary of Hyde Park. At ...
(1912), now heritage-listed.State Heritage Register
/ref> *
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at Camperdown (with Stuart Bros of Annandale)


Kent Budden & Greenwell

In 1913, Harry Kent and Henry Budden were joined in partnership by Carlyle Greenwell. Greenwell had served his articles with Kent & Budden and after attending Sydney Technical College and the University of Sydney he had completed a Bachelor of Architecture at the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
. The partnership of Kent Budden & Greenwell was dissolved in 1919, having produced 150 buildings. Budden and Greenwell continued to work in partnership until 1922. Buildings by Kent Budden & Greenwell include: * ''Griffith Teas'', Wentworth Avenue,
Surry Hills Surry Hills is an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), inner-east suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local gover ...
in 1915.


Kent and Massie

Kent and H H Masie became partners in 1919 and practiced together until Kent's retirement in 1930. Massie was a member of an influential banking, commercial and sporting family. Kent & Massie secured many commercial commissions including Bebarfalds, later Woolworths on the corner of
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and
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streets, Sydney. Another of their buildings was Pilgrim House, in Pitt Street (1928). It is heritage-listed. Principal client for Kent and Massie was the
Commercial Banking Company of Sydney The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited, also known as the CBC, or CBC Bank, was a bank based in Sydney, Australia. It was established in 1834, and in 1982 merged with the National Bank of Australasia to form National Australia Bank. Hi ...
. Kent & Massie designed the former CBC head office on corner of George and
Barrack Street Barrack Street is one of two major cross-streets in the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. Together with St Georges Terrace, Wellington Street and William Street it defines the boundary of the main shopping precinct of th ...
s, Sydney, now heritage-listed, and a series of country banks in
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
and Cessnock.State Heritage Register
/ref>


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Harry 1852 births 1938 deaths Architects from Sydney Australian Congregationalists English emigrants to colonial Australia Strathfield, New South Wales