Sir Charles Kent, 1st Baronet


Sir Charles Kent was a British landowner and MP.
He was born Charles Egleton, the only son of Sir Charles Egleton, a London merchant and his wife Sarah, the daughter of Samuel Kent, MP.
In 1762 he succeeded his mother's brother to the Fornham estate at Fornham St Genevieve, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk and formally adopted the name of Kent. He employed architect James Wyatt to design and build a large new house on the site in the 1770s.
He was selected High Sheriff of Suffolk for 1781–82 and created a baronet in August 1782. He was elected to serve in Parliament as the MP for Thetford from 1784 to 1790.
He died in 1811. He had married in 1771, Mary, the daughter and coheiress of Josias Wordsworth of Wadworth, Yorkshire and Sevenscore, Kent. They had a son, Sir Charles Egleton Kent, 2nd Baronet, who succeeded him, and 3 daughters.