John Dent (1821–1892) was an English merchant of the then prominent trading firm Dent & Co. and member of the

Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's " one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the power centre of Hong Kon ...

and Chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Council.

Biography

John was born in 1821 in the Far East merchant family. His uncle Thomas Dent started the Dent & Co. in

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

in the 1820s and his two other uncles

Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...

and Wilkinson Dent were the heads of the firm and led to the firm into one of the largest

hongs A ''hong'' () originally designates both a type of building and a type of Chinese merchant intermediary in Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton), Guangdong, China, in the 18–19th century, specifically during the Canton System period. Guangzh ...

in China and early colonial Hong Kong. John Dent joined Dent & Co. and became the senior partner of the firm. In 1863, he was elected the third chairman of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. He played a leading role in the establishment of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Company and was one of the proprietors when the bank was incorporated in 1866. He returned to London in 1864 with a fortune of about £800,000, which he amassed in China, and joined the formation of the Blakely Ordnance Company and became the chairman of the firm with the capital of £120 000. John Dent was appointed an unofficial

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the s ...

in 1844. In 1857, he was appointed member of the

. He resigned from the office in 1861 and replaced by

Francis Chomley John Francis Chomley (22 May 1822 – 14 April 1892) was an Irish businessman in Hong Kong and China in the mid-19th century. He was the first chairman of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Company and member of the Legislative Council of Hong Ko ...

, another partner of the Dent & Co.. He was reappointed to the Legislative Council in 1866. He resigned in 1867 after his firm went bankrupt in 1867 and was replaced by Phineas Ryrie. Dent was also appointed consul for the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

and later the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

in Hong Kong from 1858 to 1867. Dent & Co. went bankrupt in 1867 during the worldwide financial crisis which originated in 1866 in London. They suffered a loss of no less than £200,000 by the malversations of a Portuguese clerk in their employment at Shanghai who was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. The petition for adjudication of bankruptcy was filed in the

Supreme Court of Hong Kong The Supreme Court of Hong Kong was the highest court in Hong Kong prior to the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China in 1997 and heard cases of first instance and appeals from the Di ...

on 29 June 1867. Dent had to remove his headquarters in Shanghai and sold the Dent Building to the Hong Kong Hotel Co. Dent was noted for his luxurious lifestyle which he was reported to have spent £10,000 on a racehorse to win the Hong Kong cup. The clock-tower at the end of Pedder Street and the entrance to Queen's Road in

Central, Hong Kong Central (also Central District) is the central business district of Hong Kong. It is located in Central and Western District, on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, across Victoria Harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui, the southernmost point of Kowloon ...

, erected by public subscription in 1862, was at the suggestion of John Dent, whose original design had to be stripped of its original decorative features, owing to the waning enthusiasm of the community. John Dent also donated a fountain at the entrance of the old

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

. In 1870, Dent recommenced business as

Dent & Co Dent & Co. or Dent's, was one of the wealthiest British merchant firms, or ''Hongs'', active in China during the 19th century. A direct rival to Jardine, Matheson & Co, together with Russell & Co., these three companies are recognised as t ...

in Shanghai in the premises previously occupied by his old firm. In April 1871 he became the Chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Council and served in that position until January 1873The Chronicle & Directory for China and Japan 1872, entry for Dent; Municipal Council Report and Budget 1874, p4-5

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dent, John 1821 births 1892 deaths British expatriates in Hong Kong Hong Kong businesspeople Chairmen of HSBC Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Chairmen of the Shanghai Municipal Council