Richard Brent (1757 – December 30, 1814) was an American planter, lawyer, and politician who represented Virginia in both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate, and at various times Fairfax, Prince William and Stafford counties as he served at various times in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly.

Nearly a century earlier George Brent had emigrated across the Atlantic Ocean to the Virginia Colony to avoid England's Civil Wars and persecution as a Catholic and established 'Woodstock' plantation; others from that prominent Catholic family would include Margaret Brent, and Eleanor Carroll, sister of the future Archbishop John Carroll, who as a priest in Maryland crossed the Potomac River to serve the Brents and other Catholics in Northern Virginia[1][2] Privately educated, Brent also read law, but never married.

[3] After his father's death Brent continued his family tradition and several times won election to the Virginia House of Delegates, representing Stafford County in 1788 and representing Prince William County in 1793, 1794, 1800 and 1801.

In 1794, Brent won election to the United States House of Representatives and represented Virginia's 17th congressional district during the 4th and 5th Congresses, serving from March 1795 to March 1799, when he returned to the Virginia House of Delegates, again winning election from Prince William County.

He is buried at the private Brent family cemetery near Aquia in Stafford County, Virginia.