Mr Edward Austin Kent

Mr Edward Austin Kent, 58, was born on 19th February, 1854.

He boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg as a first class passenger (ticket number 11771, £29 14s). He occupied cabin B-37.

Edward Kent was an architect returning to his home in Buffalo, NY. He was a friend of Helen Churchill Candee and both were in the writers' group, "Our coterie", with Archibald Gracie, Edward Pomeroy Colley, Hugh Woolner, J. Clinch Smith and Mauritz Håkan Björnström-Steffansson.

On April 14, Mrs Candee was running upstairs to the boatdeck, when she ran into Kent, who was dashing upstairs as well. She persuaded her friend to keep an ivory and gold miniature of her mother. He didn't believe he would survive, but he slipped it in his pocket. Later, as Archibald Gracie was looking for Candee, Kent told him "She is safe and in a boat, Mr Gracie." Kent had escorted Candee into Lifeboat 6 with the help of Woolner and Björnström-Steffansson. At 2:20am, Kent made no struggle to jump as the seas closed over him. He was lost. His body was later found by the crew of the MacKay Bennett (#258). The miniature was still in his pocket, and it was eventually returned to Mrs Candee.

On 1 May 1912 the body was delivered to H. K. White of Boston for transportation back to Buffalo, N.Y.

The grave of Edward Austin Kent at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo.
(Courtesy of Katie Rosen, USA)

There is also a memorial plaque to Mr Kent inside the first Unitarian Church, Buffalo, N.Y.

References and Sources

Contract Ticket List, White Star Line 1912 (National Archives, New York; NRAN-21-SDNYCIVCAS-55[279])
Marriages, births, deaths and injuries that have occurred on board during the voyage (PRO London, BT 100/259-260)
Record of Bodies and Effects: Passengers and Crew, S.S. Titanic (Public Archives of Nova Scotia)
Brian Ticehurst (1996) Titanic''s Memorials World wide: Where they are Located. ISBN 1 871733 05 7
Walter Lord (1986) The Night Lives On: Thoughts, Theories and Revelations about the Titanic. London, Penguin. ISBN 0 140 27900 8

Related Articles and Documents

		EDWARD A. KENT
		MEMORIAL PLAQUE
	New York Times  (1912)	BIG CROWD SAILS TO-DAY
	New York Times  (1912)	EDWARD A. KENT OF BUFFALO
	New York Herald  (1912)	EDWARD A. KENT
	New York Times  (1912)	TRIBUTE TO J. C. SMITH