James Begg Kent (1885 – 4 November 1970) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He served as a Member of Parliament and was both a borough councillor and deputy mayor of Greymouth.

Biography

Early life and career

He was born in

Dunoon Dunoon (; gd, Dùn Omhain) is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in the south of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As wel ...

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

, Scotland, in 1885. There he studied as a sign writer at

Dunoon Grammar School Dunoon Grammar School is a secondary school in Dunoon, Cowal Peninsula, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It was founded in 1641. It is currently a non-denominational comprehensive school which covers all stages from S1 to S6 (ages 12–18). Building ...

winning many awards before becoming a teacher at the same school. He then moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

where he became the head sign writer for the

London City Council London City Council is the governing body of the city of London, Ontario, Canada. Composition London is divided into 14 wards, with residents in each ward electing one councillor. The mayor is elected citywide, who along with the councillors for ...

works department. He became a member of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

and served as a party organiser before being elected as a member of the Patrick Town Council. Kent emigrated to New Zealand in 1909 and settled in Greymouth and established his own sign writer business. He then became secretary of the Grey Labour Paper Board which purchased the '' Grey River Argus'' in 1920 and was a director of the paper for 40 years. He then became a member of the

Greymouth High School Greymouth High School is one of two post-primary schools in Greymouth, New Zealand. The other is John Paul II High School. It is the largest school on the West Coast of New Zealand with a roll of students. As of 2021 the principal is Samantha ...

board of governors for 24 years from 1923 to 1947 and was chairman of its finance committee from 1941 to 1942. In 1934 he married Jessie Ellen Pugh with whom he had three children. He was a member of the Westland Licensing Committee for 15 years and the Greymouth Civic Centre Board for two years. Kent was the inaugural president of the West Coast Athletic Council as well as a foundation executive member of the Greymouth Life-Saving and Surf Club, later serving 14 years as president and becoming a life member.

Political career

He became a founding member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

(SDP) and was the Greymouth branch delegate to the Grey District Workers' Council. When the SDP merged into the Labour Party Kent became president of the Westland Labour Representation Committee and later a member of the national executive of the party. He was a Greymouth Borough Councillor from 1925 to 1947 and served twice as deputy mayor. On the council he was the chairman of both the library and traffic committees. In 1928 he was elected as a member of the Grey Electric Power Board and was the board's chairman for four terms. By extension he became a member of the national executive of the New Zealand Power Boards' Association. In 1933 Kent was elected to the Grey Hospital Board and was chairman in 1942 and 1944. He was also a member of the Greymouth Harbour Board and he served as chairman between 1943 and 1946. Kent then became a member of the Greymouth Fire Board from 1944 to 1947. In 1947 he put himself forward as a candidate for the Labour Party nomination for the

Westland Westland or Westlands may refer to: Places *Westlands, an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya * Westlands, Staffordshire, a suburban area and ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme *Westland, a peninsula of the Shetland Mainland near Vaila ...

electorate at a by-election after the death of James O'Brien. Though he was unsuccessful with Robert James Ware ultimately being selected. Five days later however, Ware was taken ill suddenly on the same day he was due to open his campaign at a meeting in Ngahere. After receiving medical advice Ware withdrew his candidacy and Kent was selected as his replacement as the Labour candidate. He won the election and represented the West Coast electorate of

from 1947 to 1960, when he retired. Kent was a well read man and well versed in classical literature. Despite this he was not confident as an orator and seldom spoke for the full hour allotted to him in the house, a habit which earned him frequent heckling from National MPs.

Later life and death

He was then elected as a member of the Grey County Catchment Board from 1965 to 1968. In 1966 he became president of the West Coast Composite Coal Committee for two years. He died in Greymouth on 4 November 1970. He was survived by his two sons and a daughter, his wife having predeceased him by three years.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Jim New Zealand Labour Party MPs 1885 births 1970 deaths People from Dunoon People educated at Dunoon Grammar School Independent Labour Party councillors Councillors in Scotland Scottish emigrants to New Zealand Social Democratic Party (New Zealand) politicians Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Deputy mayors of places in New Zealand Local politicians in New Zealand New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates Members of district health boards in New Zealand