Genes Meanz Heinz: The story of Frederick Kent

Recently the HAT team were very pleased to be able to help family historian Russell Kent discover footage and photos of his ancestor at work in the Heinz UK Marketing archive. Frederick Charles Kent (1883-1951) was employed by the London building contractors firm of E.H. Burgess Ltd from 1910-1951, initially as a foreman bricklayer but was promoted to General Foreman from 1914 and was on site at Heinz’s new Harlesden factory (opened 1925) almost continuously from 1927-51. 


Frederick Charles Kent (from Russell Kent’s private collection): Probably mid-1920s

According to information found by Russell in local authority planning records Heinz were granted permission to erect 41 buildings on the Harlesden site between 1927 – 51 so F.C. Kent (aka ‘The Boss’) would have been responsible for overseeing them all; he would also have been involved in undertaking temporary and permanent repairs following bomb damage during WW2 – and probably other work that didn’t require planning consent.


E.H. Burgess Ltd van on site at Heinz’s Harlesden factory (1939)

Initial research undertaken by HAT staff had uncovered an obituary for F.C. Kent (d. 1951) in Heinz’s in-house magazine (The British 57 News) and a fleeting note in a Harlesden factory photo album from Heinz’s influential American manager Charles Hellen: ‘Tell Kent I think he must be slowing down; Give him my kind regards’. 

It was established that there were many photographs and silent films showing the extensive construction work at the new Harlesden factory but unfortunately the vast majority of these did not include details of the people shown so, armed with a magnifying glass, Russell Kent made the long journey from Somerset to Norfolk to view the archives for himself. He was delighted to find several photographs of his grandfather (always dressed smartly in a suit with waistcoat and tie) supervising building work and consulting with colleagues, as well as footage of him ‘in motion’ and to obtain copies of this material to illustrate his family history. During his visit to HAT Russell also found an image of both of F.C. Kent’s sons who worked for E H Burgess under him on site – Charles (Russell’s father) was a carpenter and Fred junior, a bricklayer. In addition, as an unexpected bonus, HAT co-incidentally but fortuitously received a donation of archive material during Russell Kent’s visit which included a Harlesden factory album (1927-35) featuring further images of F.C. Kent in action!


Frederick C. Kent supervising building work at Harlesden in 1935

The archive material at HAT undoubtedly helped to bring to life the story of F.C. Kent’s career and the moving footage was a real highlight. The ‘57 News’ obituary provided fascinating insights into Frederick’s character and a testament to his sterling service. It also noted his personal popularity at the Heinz company with whom he worked with for so long: Mr Kent was highly respected by everyone who knew him; his great competence and capacity for work made him someone in whom complete reliance could be placed. When confronted with a job which was urgent, difficult and, perhaps, seemingly impossible, Mr Kent would listen intently and then quietly utter a phrase for which he became well known: “Right, sir! We’ll see what can be done”. Everyone who heard that phrase knew that, if it was humanly possible, the job would be done. Add to his quiet determination and inability ever to display ill-temper, Mr Kent’s likeable personality and sense of humour, and you are left with the reason why so many people in the Heinz Company consider that they have lost a loyal friend (British 57 News, April 1951, p.5).


From Harlesden album HZ2019/3: F.C. Kent on site in top left corner and zoomed in

By way of further serendipity Russell spotted that there was a run of the Brewers’ Journal on the shelves behind where he was seated in HAT’s research area. He knew F.C. Kent had been involved in the construction of the new Berkeley Arms Hotel at Cranford, Middlesex so therefore had a speculative browse through the journal and came across a detailed article about the hotel in question. This was one of a few additional jobs F.C. Kent managed while also at the Heinz site. The hotel was built for Benskin’s Watford Brewery Ltd in 1931-32 and, according to a Historic England publication (‘The Urban and Suburban public house in inter-war England 1918-1939’, Vols 1 & 2, 2015), was designed by E.B. Musman FRIBA BA the ‘king’ of inter-war pub design in England and with the Mylett Arms at Greenford/Perivale (which was also designed by E.B. Musman and built by F.C. Kent, erected in 1935-36) were the most discussed in the architectural and building media at the time. The Berkeley Arms still exists as part of Hilton’s Double Tree hotel chain.

Russell Kent said of his visit: ‘The staff at HAT have been extremely helpful in my research into the life of my grandfather Fred Kent. I was only 3 when he died and I can’t remember him so finding several photos and films in which he featured was fantastic. An added bonus was finding pictures in which my late father and his brother also appeared – both worked on the site under their father. The material in the HAT archive has added considerably to my research and has put some flesh on the bones of my previous knowledge. All in all the very helpful HAT team and the material they look after have been invaluable in my research’.

The Heinz UK Marketing Archive at HAT contains an extensive historical photograph collection, product label library and material relating to its UK factories, their operations, product development and packaging. There is also a comprehensive library of TV commercials, historic film footage and sales records. The Brewery History Society was founded in 1972 to promote research into all aspects of the brewing industry, to encourage the interchange of information about breweries and brewing, and to collect photographic and other archive information about brewery history. The Brewery History Society Collection was donated to HAT in 2011 and comprises books, journals, beer mats, beer brand labels, advertisements and artwork. The article on ‘The Berkeley Arms Hotel, Cranford, Middlesex’ is in The Brewers’ Journal, April 15 1932, pages 205-206. HAT’s public research area is open Monday-Friday 9-5 and we welcome researchers by appointment. With special thanks to Russell Kent for his assistance with this article and the additional information on F.C. Kent’s career and the Berkeley Arms Hotel plus photos from his own collection.

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