Thomas Bent
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The Honourable Sir Thomas Bent KCMG |
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| 22nd Premier of Victoria | |
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In office 16 February 1904 – 8 January 1909 |
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| Preceded by | William Irvine |
| Succeeded by | John Murray |
| 6th Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly | |
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In office 11 May 1892 – September 1894 |
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| Preceded by | Matthew Davies |
| Succeeded by | Graham Berry |
| Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Brighton |
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In office 1 November 1900 – 17 September 1909 |
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| Preceded by | William Moule |
| Succeeded by | Oswald Snowball |
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In office 16 March 1871 – 4 September 1894 |
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| Preceded by | George Higinbotham |
| Succeeded by | William Moule |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 December 1838 Penrith, New South Wales |
| Died | 17 September 1909 (aged 70) Brighton, Victoria |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Spouse(s) | Hannah Hall & Elizabeth Huntly |
| Occupation | Land speculator and developer |
Sir Thomas Bent KCMG (7 December 1838 – 17 September 1909) was an Australian politician and the 22nd Premier of Victoria. He was one of the most colourful and corrupt politicians in Victorian history.
Bent was born in Penrith, New South Wales the eldest of four sons and two daughters of James Bent, a hotel-keeper. He came to Melbourne with his parents in 1849. He went to school in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, later becoming a market-gardener in East Brighton. In 1861 he became a rate collector for the town council of Brighton, then a fast-growing suburb. He soon began buying and selling land in Brighton, and became a property developer in new areas fairly close by, such as Moorabbin. He developed the suburb of Bentleigh, named after himself. He was a member of both Brighton and Moorabbin town councils and was Mayor of Brighton nine times.
In 1871 Bent was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the district of Brighton, defeating the veteran liberal George Higinbotham "to the amazement of every one". He had no particular party loyalties and first held office in the Service government in 1880. He was Commissioner for Works and Railways in Sir Bryan O'Loghlen's government in 1881–1883, and used this position to extend the railway line from Caulfield to Cheltenham, thus enormously increasing the value of his own property developments. His lifelong reputation for corruption dates from this period. The exposure of Bent's dealings led to the defeat of O'Loghlen's government at the 1883 elections.
After this debacle Bent spent 18 years on the backbench, concentrating on his property dealings. His fortunes suffered a reversal in 1888 when a bad investment in Ringwood caused the collapse of the Thomas Bent Land Co., but he soon recovered and became a leading player in the great Land Boom that reached its climax in 1890. For instance, in 1884 Bent purchased property in Exhibition Street for 1488 pounds and on the same day resold it for 2000 pounds. In 1892 he surprised his critics by being elected Speaker as part of a complex political deal. A newspaper asked: "Why is Speaker Bent the first commoner in the land? Because no-one commoner than Bent can be found." There was an element of snobbery in this. Bent was the first Victorian Premier with a strong Australian accent, and was held in contempt by the Anglo-Scottish Melbourne establishment.
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