KENT

UNITED KINGDOM (see also List of Individuals)

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3.8.1858 St. Giles/UK - 11.11.1938 London/UK

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Walter Kent was educated as a mechanical engineer at University College, London, and joined in 1876 his father's firm. The latter had founded the George Kent, Ltd. in 1838 and started with the manufacture of domestic labor-saving appliances. Walter Kent was the chairman of George Kent Ltd. from 1907 until his death, when his son took over the firm. The service of the first two chairmen of their manufacture spanned a total of 100 years. Sir Walter was knighted in 1929 and in the 1920s and 1930s directed over one of the largest manufacturer of industrial instruments and controllers.

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The Kent company took over in 1883 another manufacturer, which marked the beginning of the Kent water meter business. In 1885, George Kent was given an award for a water meter. It was in 1894 that the first Venturi meter was installed and in 1901 the standard meter was patented. The branch works in Luton were opened in 1908, and from then onwards developments were rapid. These included the M-type rotary piston meter launched in 1922, the Q-type Venturi recorder followed in 1924, then the Venturi flume in 1928, and the Multelec recorder in 1936. The were also many other appliances of interest to the engineering industry in general. The Kent works occupied in the late 1930s nearly seven acres and a floor space of over 26,000 m2; they employed in this time over 1,750 workers. The activities of the company were world wide, with agents being engaged in most countries. Sir Walter was well known to, and highly respected by water engineers and rarely missed an opportunity of attending an annual conference of the British Association of Water Engineers.

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_{Anonymous (1938). Centenary of well-known company: George Kent, Ltd. 1838-1938. Water and Water Engineering 40(8): 438-439. P}

_{Anonymous (1938). Sir Walter Kent, CBE. Water and Water Engineering 40(12): 619. P}

_{Anonymous (1938). A notable centenary: George Kent Ltd. celebrate a 100 years of service. Gas Journal 222(3918): 957-958. P}

_{Anonymous (1947). Kent, Sir Walter George. Who was who 1929-1940: 747. Black: London. Anonymous (1950). George Kent Ltd. of Luton. Water and Water Engineering 54(7): 28-33. Kent, G. (1892). The water meter: Its difficulties, types and applications. Spon: London.}

_{Kent, G. (1892). The water waste of London: A plea for payment by measure as a cheap substitute for fresh supplies. Spon: London.}

_{Kent, W. (1912). An appreciation of two great workers in hydraulics: Giovanni Battista Venturi and Clemens Herschel. Blades, East & Blades: London, 2nd ed. in 1927.}