Portrait of John Kent, London, Ontario

Description

Comments (6)

Creator

Cooper, John, Photographer

Media Type

Image

Item Type

Photographs

Description

A black and white portrait of John Kent, an early London pioneer. Beneath the portrait is the faintly visible photographer's imprint and logo for John Cooper, photographer.

Notes

The only reference to the person in this photograph is a handwritten inscription on the back that says simply "Kent". John Kent was a landowner from Staffordshire, England who came to Canada in 1823. In 1824 he purchased a 200 acre plot of land in London which extended north from Carling Street to John Street, between Richmond Street on the east and stretching across the North Branch of the Thames River to Wharncliffe Road on the west. He probably farmed on the west side of the river. John and Kent Streets are named after him and the western part of Central Avenue was originally called Lichfield Street after his Staffordshire home. He later moved to Wardsville. (Source: "Thomas Kent's Recollections of Early London" edited by Frederick H. Armstrong, found in "The London and Middlesex Historian" Volume 17, Autumn, 1990)

A portrait of John's son, Thomas Kent, also appears in this digital image gallery.

This is an undated cabinet card photograph. John Cooper was in business as a photographer from 1857 - 1890. His business was located at 198 Dundas Street until 1875. He then moved to 440-442 Clarence Street. The map shows the 198 Dundas Street location.

Inscriptions