Forgotten History: A Life of Corruption Fades with the Past

Sir Thomas Bent, one of Victoria’s most corrupt Premiers, whose name was lent to the suburb of Bentleigh and portly figure memorialised in bronze, is now remembered as little more than a curious loose historical tether to the now thriving suburb. 

Bent’s political career, from his appointment to the Moorabbin Road Board in 1863, to his ascendency to the Premier’s office in 1904, was fraught with shady-dealings, self-serving land acquisitions, and alleged election fraud.

That a bullish opportunist with fierce political wile and an insatiable thirst for power would find themselves in high office is no new bombshell. 

Nor is it that those same anglo-European men carved themselves into the history of unceded land.

But in an age of post-colonial historical revision and cancel-culture, where is the line drawn? 

And how much is simply forgotten? 

Bent came from humble Irish convict stock, receiving a short and interrupted education while helping his father at the family market garden. In 1861 he became the rate-collector for Brighton, a highly advantageous political position not only for the ability to meet local voters in the constituent, but also because — as were the laws of the day — voters were only eligible if they had paid their rates.

Ms Carol Poole of the Moorabbin Historical Society describes that Bent “had the advantage of being able to rig things. What he was doing, he could falsify anything and I'm sure he did.” 

In 1871 Bent was first elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly, beating his opponent, George Higinbotham by a mere 14 votes. However, as Dr Margaret E. Glass writes, his support came not from his fellow market gardeners in Moorabbin but, suspiciously, the “silvertails” of Brighton. 

Along with Bent’s ability to directly manipulate the electoral roll, in 1874 when he relinquished his position as rate-collector massive discrepancies were found in the muddled books he kept. Approximately 1500 pounds in Brighton rates— well over $260,000 now — were found to be outstanding. 

A committee of residents were appointed to investigate the matter, and when they requested the council produce all relevant books and materials the motion was moved and seconded. Bent — who as well as being the member of the VLA was also Mayor of Brighton — refused to put the motion to council. The investigation was quashed. 

Bent became Railway Minister in 1881, and while he did implement major infrastructural development across the state, his tenure was not without serious controversy. 

After Bent orchestrated ballast for the Caulfield-Mordialloc and Elsternwick-Brighton lines to be bought from a paddock he owned, the Engineer-in-Chief claimed the material was substandard and refused to use it. A year later, after intense bullying and harassment from Bent, the Engineer had retired. 

“That was pure graft,” Ms Poole laughs. 

Bent also meddled with daily operations of the railway lines, and was blamed for two fatalities as a direct result of his orders. 

But perhaps the most unscrupulous of Bent’s known dealings came after the land boom burst in the early 1890s. 

After purchasing enormous amounts of land during the 1880s, Bent owed major personal and company debts, amounting to well over 30 million in 2023. Ms Poole notes Bent was “a great money shuffler,” and according to Dr Glass, he transferred a large amount of his land (and debt) into the name of a market gardener called McMahon. Poorly educated, and with a family of six to support, McMahon’s only asset was a market garden worth 250 pounds. Bent offloaded a debt to McMahon of over 40,000 pounds during the 1890s depression. 

However Ms Poole is measured in her assessment of ‘Tommy’. “I think there are two stories here,” she says. 

“There’s the present story, and the ability to research and find out what he was actually doing. At the time, people were only able to see him at face value.”

But does the limpidity of hindsight change the meaning of the name ‘Bentleigh’ now? 

President of the Moorabbin Historical Society Ms Toni Grinberg certainly doesn’t think so. 

“It’s the person that is shameful, not the actual name.” 

“I don’t see why you bury wrongdoing. No I don’t think we should be celebrating wrongdoing, but we should be learning from it, and hope that no one like Bent is in the future.” 

As for the connection between Bent’s sordid career and his eponymous suburb, Grinberg believes most people are simply not interested: “they don’t care.” 

Robert, a resident of Bentleigh, believes the suburb name “has become separated from the person. Just in passing it's curiosity more than anything nowadays.” 

“I know that it relates to Thomas Bent, but I don’t know nothing about it.” 

The social debate whether to separate ‘the artist from the art’ has never been more prevalent, but perhaps in this case it’s a matter of historical free play between signs and signifiers: a fading link between the shameful person and the shameful name. 

When asked what ‘Bentleigh’ meant to him, Bivi, a school student and resident of the suburb replied: “It’s a place of residency. Bentleigh’s a home.”