William Brent Jr.

{{Short description|American politician}} {{Infobox officeholder |name =William Brent Jr. |image = |office = [[United States Ambassador to Argentina|United States Chargé d'Affaires, Argentina]] |term_start = June 14, 1844 |term_end = July 7, 1846 |predecessor = |successor = |office1 = Member of the [[Virginia House of Delegates]] from [[Stafford County, Virginia|Stafford County]] |term_start1 = December 4, 1809 |term_end1 = December 1, 1811 |predecessor1 = John Moncure |alongside1=[[Peter V. Daniel]], Charles Julian |successor1 = [[William H. Fitzhugh]] |birth_date = {{birth date|1783|1|13}} |birth_place = {{nowrap|[[Stafford County, Virginia|Stafford County]], [[Virginia]], U.S.}} |death_date = {{death date and age|1848|5|13|1783|1|13}} |death_place = |spouse = |children = |party = |education = [[College of William and Mary]] |father = [[Robert Brent]] |relatives = [[William Brent (patriot)|William Brent]] (uncle) }} '''William Brent Jr.''' (January 13, 1783 – May 13, 1848) was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat from [[Stafford County, Virginia]] who served two terms in the [[Virginia House of Delegates]] and as the [[United States Ambassador to Argentina|United States Chargé d'Affaires, Argentina]] from June 14, 1844, to July 7, 1846.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/brent-william|title = William Brent Jr. - People - Department History - Office of the Historian}}</ref>

==Early and family life== He was born to the former Dorothy Leigh and her husband, [[Robert Brent]], of a distinguished family in [[Stafford County, Virginia]] and who became the mayor of [[Washington, D.C.]] His uncle, Col. [[William Brent (patriot)|William Brent]] (1775-1848), served in Virginia's Fifth Convention during the American Revolutionary War, as well as several terms in the Virginia House of Delegates representing Stafford County, and later as secretary to President Thomas Jefferson and finally as clerk of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.<ref>W.B. Chilton, The Brent Family (continued), The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography Vol.19 No. 2 p. 206</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.annefield.net/brentwilliam.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130507134300/http://www.annefield.net/brentwilliam.htm |archive-date=May 7, 2013 |title=Anne Healy's Genealogy: William Brent, 1775-1848 |access-date=July 21, 2024 |url-status=live }}</ref> This William Brent received a private education suitable to his class, graduated from the [[College of William and Mary]] and married Mary Fenwick.

==Virginia planter and politician== Stafford County voters twice elected Brent as one of their (part-time) representatives in the [[Virginia House of Delegates]] between 1810 and 1811.<ref>Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library pp. 258, 262</ref> In 1820 he owned slaves,<ref>1820 federal census for Stafford County, Virginia p. 3 of 24 on ancestry.com which interprets "William Brent Jr." as owning 24 enslaved men and boys and 19 enslaved women but pages are damaged and would be lower if the adjacent page carryover is incorrect</ref> and also in 1830.<ref>1830 federal census for Stafford County, Virginia pp. 37-38 of 66 on ancestry.com which interprets "Will Brent" as owning 15 slaves</ref>

==Diplomacy in Argentina== Brent was named as the [[United States Ambassador to Argentina|United States Chargé d'Affaires for Argentina]] on June 14, 1844, and presented his [[Letter of credence|credentials]] on November 15, 1844. Shortly after his arrival in [[Buenos Aires]], France and England began their five-year [[Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata|blockade of the city]]. Brent attempted to mediate the conflict, but his efforts were unsuccessful and his own government did not support him.<ref>{{cite book|last=Shavit|first=David|title=The United States in Latin America : a historical dictionary|year=1992|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=New York u.a.|isbn=0313275955|page=42|edition=1. publ.}}</ref><ref name ="Brent, C.H.">Brent, Chester Horton. ''Descendants of Col. Giles Brent, Capt George Brent and Robert Brent, Gentlemen''. (Rutland, VT: Tuttle Publishing Co, 1946)</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/brent-william US State Department - Chiefs of Mission for Argentina: William Brent]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brent Jr, Willian}} [[Category:1783 births]] [[Category:1848 deaths]] [[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Argentina]] [[Category:19th-century American diplomats]] [[Category:Virginia lawyers]] [[Category:Members of the Virginia House of Delegates]] [[Category:College of William & Mary alumni]] [[Category:U.S. state legislators who owned slaves]] [[Category:19th-century American lawyers]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly]]