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 "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Alfred Dent, (12 December 1844 – 23 November 1927) was a British colonial merchant and entrepreneur. He was a founder of the

British North Borneo Company The North Borneo Chartered Company (NBCC), also known as the British North Borneo Company (BNBC) was a British chartered company formed on 1 November 1881 to administer and exploit the resources of North Borneo (present-day Sabah in Malaysia) ...

Life

Dent was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, the son of Thomas Dent. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

which he attended from 1858 to 1862, subsequently becoming a partner in the family business of Dent & Co.

British North Borneo

In the course of business Dent travelled in

eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

and

south-eastern Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

, in 1878 inducing the

Sultan of Sulu The Sultanate of Sulu ( Tausūg: ''Kasultanan sin Sūg'', كاسولتانن سين سوڬ; Malay: ''Kesultanan Sulu''; fil, Sultanato ng Sulu; Chavacano: ''Sultanato de Sulu/Joló''; ar, سلطنة سولك) was a Muslim state that ruled t ...

to transfer his rights and claims over northern Borneo to a syndicate formed by Dent and

Gustav Overbeck Gustav Overbeck (from 1867 von Overbeck, in 1873 Baron von Overbeck, in 1877 Maharaja of Sabah and Rajah of Gaya and Sandakan; born 4 March 1830 in Lemgo; died 8 April 1894 in London) was a German businessman, adventurer and diplomat. Biograp ...

, the main promoters of which were Sir Rutherford Alcock, Sir Harry Keppel and

Richard Biddulph Martin Sir Richard Biddulph Martin, 1st Baronet (12 May 1838 – 23 August 1916) was an English banker and Liberal Party (and later Liberal Unionist) politician. Martin was the older of two sons of Robert Martin (1808–1897) of Overbury Court near ...

. Subsequently the British North Borneo Provisional Association was formed in 1881; it obtained a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

and became, in May 1882, the British North Borneo Company, also known as the North Borneo Chartered Company. Dent became head of the firm of Dent Brothers and Co, merchants and commission agents in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. Other business positions held by Dent included chairmanship of the Caledonian (Ceylon) Tea and Rubber Estates and the Shanghai Electric Construction Company and directorships of the

Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China (informally The Chartered Bank) was a bank incorporated in London in 1853 by Scotsman James Wilson, under a Royal Charter from Queen Victoria.

, the

London County and Westminster Bank Westminster Bank was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1834 until its merger into the National Westminster Bank in 1970; it continued to exist as a dormant registered non-trading company until 4 July 2017 when it ...

and the

Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation The Royal Exchange Assurance, founded in 1720, was a British insurance company. It took its name from the location of its offices at the Royal Exchange, London. Origins The Royal Exchange Assurance emerged from a joint stock insurance enterpr ...

Later life

In 1896 he married Margaret Aird with whom he had a son, Leslie Alfred Dent, born in 1897. In 1898 Dent was appointed a member of the Indian Currency Commission and, in the same year was made a Knight Commander in the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(KCMG). He had a house at

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

in south-east England, and served as

High Sheriff of Sussex The office of Sheriff of Sussex was established before the Norman Conquest. The Office of sheriff remained first in precedence in the counties until the reign of Edward VII when an Order in Council in 1908 gave the Lord-Lieutenant the prime office ...

in 1908.

References

1844 births 1927 deaths History of Sabah British North Borneo Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George British merchants People educated at Eton College Businesspeople from London High Sheriffs of Sussex People of British Borneo British colonial governors and administrators in Asia {{UK-business-bio-1840s-stub