Hi all. Doing research into Captain Henry Kent RN, who is buried in our local cemetery, I came across this thread of posts and may be able to add a little of interest for some of you:
1) A local historian suggests that Captain Henry Kent lived at 2 (not 12) Regent's Terrace before he died in 1873.
2) This makes sense because Regent's Terrace is a row of only 6 houses, now renumbered as 54-62 (even numbers only) Polsloe Road, Heavitree, Exeter, UK (
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&q=58+Polsloe+Road,+exeter&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x486da412037e03f5:0x8ebfd27d78ecc327,58+Polsloe+Rd,+Exeter+EX1+2EA&gl=uk&sa=X&ei=ZVNlUKX1I4Kg0QWq_IGwBA&ved=0CCEQ8gEwAA )
The old terrace can be seen on the top part of the map on page 9 of a local conservation management plan for the area concerned, available at:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:e_RjAwm9K20J:www.exeter.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx%3Fid%3D12830%26p%3D0+&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgCrh6pgYN78fnLueU9SlKscPzgSNMPmDGf7ty6NWl741CpHQFFkYD6k-NdT_JyFlO0UqPPEIjaUnAcmp-0sOa-gSdo6w_yMfC7cUD8rekqYCkFZSEyrTesYDINuJm7TwWCl-bD&sig=AHIEtbQyZD6SN5rNkqc9axBxpek2iV6zpg(the official link is broken but should be here:
http://exeter.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=12830&p=0 )
I don't know which end of the terrace 2 would have been, but it would have been one house in from the end.
3) His obituary appeared in the Illustrated London News on 28th June 1873 and is shown attached
4) Rockmanzym has posted a photo of the gravestone (
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockmanzym/3849738828/in/photostream/ ) and we can fill in a missing word:
Was appointed in 1835 by the British Government
to carry into effect the Great Abolition Act
which for a period of 38 years he so faithfully
[PERFORMED], to prove himself the unflinching
Friend and Benefactor of the Emancipated Class
to their lasting Gratitude and Praise.
5) I am not sure if those using this thread have grasped the significance of 'The Great Abolition Act'. This was the abolition of slavery in British territories. Henry Kent was appointed to help oversee the emancipation of slaves in Jamaica - several mentions of him are made here:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Gi4eQ6Rg7FYC&pg=PA175&lpg=PA175&dq=henry+kent+jamaica&source=bl&ots=4L3cE-CnX_&sig=JwrRVQO8b_FRr8f3MNdW3E79ZN4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1UtlULzpEYOp0QWJhoCYBw&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=henry%20kent%20jamaica&f=falseBetween 1835 and 1839, an interim form of servitude was introduced called 'apprenticeship' for former slaves, for which Henry Kent was obliged still to punish what we would now think to be unjust crimes (e.g. running away) as protests against 'apprenticeship', but this was soon done away with. Kent's appointment to the magistracy ensured that the old form of slavery was wiped out almost immediately and plantation owners faced his punishment if they did not enable the emancipation.
6) A plaque in Port Royal, Jamaica, where he lived, apparently refers to him as a, "famous Royal Navy old sea dog" (
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1915&dat=19840610&id=MjVSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OzYNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1132,1958897 )
Do contact me if you are ever visiting Exeter in Devon (UK) and want to be shown his gravestone.
Ditch Townsend
Chairman - Friends of Higher Cemetery
