Gent was a printer from humble origins. In his youth, he worked for numerous printers in London and Dublin before settling down in his own shop in Fleet Street, where he printed popular ballads, topical pieces, and his own original verse compositions. He moved to York, where he printed a wide range of works, most notably own topographical works and histories. His York printing business failed, however, in 1740 due to competition, and he spent the last twenty years of his life struggling against poverty and living as a beneficiary of Allen's charity. The DNB characterizes most of his poetry as "generally beneath criticism."