He was the son of Henry Kent of Newcastle-on-Tyne and his wife Mary, a sister of Governor John Hunter.
[2] He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in 1781, and after service in the English Channel and North Sea was appointed in 1795 to the command of HMS Supply, in which, on 16 February, he sailed for New South Wales, in company with his uncle, Captain John Hunter, in HMS Reliance.
Hunter was a single man, so William's wife, Eliza would take up the role of his escort at the governor's receptions.
[3] The ships arrived at Sydney on 7 September, and for the next five years Kent was employed in the service of the colony, making voyages to Norfolk Island and the Cape of Good Hope, and surveying parts of the coast of New South Wales.
[1] In January 1804 Kent was at Calcutta, and returned to Port Jackson in June, bringing back cattle and other stores.