James Sprent

James Sprent (1808 – 22 September 1863) was a Surveyor General of Tasmania, (then the colony of Van Diemen's Land, now a state of Australia).

Sprent was born in Manchester, England and was educated at Glasgow University (M.A., 1825) and St John's College, Cambridge.

In May 1830 Sprent arrived in Van Diemen's Land (later renamed Tasmania).

He opened a school for boys, and later took classes for young ladies. Sprent was appointed temporary assistant surveyor in August 1833 and was soon placed on the trigonometrical survey. In March 1838 Sprent was appointed permanent assistant surveyor and first-class assistant surveyor in 1847.

After being appointed deputy Surveyor General in 1856, Sprent was appointed chief surveyor and acting Surveyor General, replacing Robert Power. In early 1859 Sprent's health deteriorated, he ceased to be Surveyor General on 1 September 1859, being replaced by James Erskine Calder.

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