Judge-advocate
He was appointed by Lord Bathurst as the deputy judge-advocate of the colony of New South Wales as from 1 January 1809. He arrived at Sydney on 1 January 1810 on board the HMS Dromedary, which happened to be carrying the new Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie. Bent took over from his predecessor Richard Atkins who was generally regarded in the colony as incompetent.
The role of deputy judge-advocate (commonly referred to as the "judge-advocate") placed Bent as the primary judicial member of the colony. He presided with six military officers in the Court of Criminal Jurisdiction, which was the only criminal court of colony which dealt with serious criminal crimes and was the only court which could sentence a person to death. He also presided with two nominees appointed by the governor in the Court of Civil Jurisdiction, which was the principal civil court of the colony. He held a commission to preside in the Vice-Admiralty Court to deal with admiralty issues that arose from time to time. He lastly presided with another magistrate as the Bench of Magistrates to deal with less serious criminal matters in Sydney.
Bent was well regarded by Macquarie initially, and set about his role of judge-advocate with vigor and good faith. In recognition, Macquarie had a new residence built for Bent, which was completed in June 1812.
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