Outline his Life:

The 1871 census shows Edwin H.A. (9) living with his parents and two sisters Charlotte E. (11) and Violet I. (2) at Cravenn St, St Martin in the Fields in the City of Westminster. The 1881 census shows the family living at 35 Denbeigh Place, St George Hanover Square, London. At this time Edwin was 19 and was recorded as an "Articled Clerk to Solicitor, London".  I can find no sign of him in the 1891 census, however the 1901 census shows him as as unmarried and staying with (living with?) his sister, Violet Hunter, at 57 Lauderdale Mansions, Paddington. He must have married shortly afterwards - see note 2 below.

Note 1: In November 2005, Diane Howard (a descendant of Edwin's sister Violet Ida) wrote to say:

"Re E.H.A. Newman: I found in the records of Old Westminster: - “EHA Newman. b. 21 Jan 1862, Solicitor, firm Newman and Wilson, Gracechurch St London which is in the City near Threadneedle St. Killed on the railway in a fog in Edmonton Middlesex, while acting as a special constable Oct 29 1915.” Maybe he took on this roll due to the war.

I also found that he was married in 1903 to Ellen Webb in Edmonton. [This information seems to be wrong - see Note 3 below.] Also Sophia B Newman fits into that part of London as she died in Edmonton June 1899."

Note 2: In March 2006, I received an email from E.H.A. Newman's grandson Eddie George, who provided further information as follows:

"My grandfather was Edwin Henry Armstrong Newman a solicitor/Barrister. I have a newspaper report of his death on the 30th of October 1915. He was killed in an accident on the railway in Edmonton in (then Middlesex) now North London He was apparently escorting two young ladies home in the fog and was killed on the return journey. I also have the probate document. Edwin was married to my grandmother Sarah Newman (nee Walbey) and they lived at 222 Winchester Road Lower Edmonton at the time of his death. They had a daughter Doris (my Mother) who was I believe about 11 at the time of his death. My mother married Roy P M George in 1933 and they had 2 children my sister Adela Armstrong George born on 1934 in Chingford (then Essex now London E4) and myself Edward George also born in Chingford in Sept 1939. My sister and I both have children and grandchildren. I am sure that my sister and I have other bits and pieces of information hidden in boxes in the loft and will endeavour to look them out.

One other item to hand is a headed notepaper for Edwin H.A.Newman Solicitor with an address 8 Warwick Court, Grays Inn, London WC."

Note 3: In March 2007, genealogist John Pretty wrote to explain this error as follows:

I can confirm that in the December quarter of 1903 Edwin HA Newman was indeed married in Edmonton Registration district. The confusion here has arisen because of the system of referencing for entries in the indexes of births, marriages and deaths. For marriages, two couples share the same reference numbers. Ellen Webb was also married at this time and her marriage has the same reference number as Edwin HA Newman, however, Sarah Walbey has this reference too!

The original correspondent has matched Ellen Webb erroneously to Edwin HA Newman. Ellen Webb's husband is clearly the other male with this reference number Albert Harry Brown.

In summary: Indexes of marriages Dec quarter 1903 at Edmonton registration district:

• Brown, Albert Harry ref: 3a 635
• Newman, Edwin Henry A ref: 3a 635
• Walbey, Sarah ref: 3a 635
• Webb, Ellen ref: 3a 635

Hopefully, this clears up this confusion

The obituary for E.H.A. Newman was supplied to me by Ian Caldwell. It makes fascinating reading and provides a lot of information about the Newman family and other families to which it became connected through marriage. Some of the information however is likely to be misleading since amongst my father's papers, I found three hand-written "histories" of the Newman and Jekyll families all of which are practically identical and paragraphs of which are almost identical to paragraphs in the obituary notice. I have copied one of these "histories" onto a separate page where it can be seen that my father casts doubts about its authenticity.

The deceased comes from a family that date back in the country to those remote times when the Wars of the Roses drenched the plains of Taunton with blood. After undergoing the ordinary rudimentary course at home he was educated at Westminster and, in 1884, was admitted solicitor succeeding shortly after to a practise which in company business held a high position in the financial world. He was a great historian and master of foreign languages. Mr.Newman was at one time president of several working men's clubs in the East End of London, and took a great interest in The Peoples Palace, and at the same time was connected with most of the philanthropic movements which helped largely to ameliorate the conditions of the poor in the East of Aldgate. He decided to contest the borough of South West Ham as a Conservative in 1886, but retired from the contest so as not to split the Conservative vote.

Mr.Newman was a descendant of John of Gaunt, Earl of Lancaster, (on the female side). At the time of King Charles I, Sir Richard Newman made the last stand for the King. Two baronetcies were granted to two Newmans of Cadbury, Somerset, and portcullis being added to the family arms by Charles 2nd in recognition of services rendered by them in England and Ireland to King Charles I, one of such services being the rescue of King Charles II as an infant from Worcester Castle by Colonel Newman.

Edwin Henry Armstrong Newman was, up to his death, the head of the Newman family. The entail of the Cadbury estate was cut off by his great uncle at the beginning of the 19th century. The baronetcy is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, in England. He is related to the Fanes, Lord Sandys and the Hoods, and most of the old families in the West of England, including Lord Nelson through the latter's mother's side. Mr.Newman, on his mother's side, was a descendant of Sir Joseph Jekyll, Lord Chief Justice of England, Great Master of the Rolls. Mr. Newman's mother was the daughter of Dr. Armstrong, son of the Rev. Armstrong, Rector of Stamford-le-Hope, a direct descendant of "Johnnie" Armstrong, the Laird of Gilnochie, chief of the Armstrong Clan. The deceased's great grandfather was Captain Jekyll R.N., an old shipmate of King William IV, and was always at court with the old King. Had the King lived a few months longer he would have had his suite of apartments at Hampton Court as a reward for the services he rendered his country. He was the inventor of the first lifeboat and ship's pumps, which were taken up by the Navy, also gun carriages that have only been superseded within the last 35 years. Captain Jekyll had to sell his estate at Roundhill, Somerset, to cover the expenses of his inventions and went to live in Paris where he died. His daughter married Henry King Armstrong MD. She was the late Edwin Henry Armstrong Newman's grandmother.

Mr.E.H.A.Newman is said to be the only solicitor to beat Bradlaugh in a court of law, and had the late Lord Salisbury in the witness box when he was Premier of England. It was over a libel attack by Bradlaugh accusing the late Lord Salisbury and the Conservative Party of bribing agitators to cause riots in Trafalgar Square.

Mr.E.H.A.Newman, like the rest of his family, has spent a fortune in explorations and inventions (as also did his father), specially in Serbia. He was just on the eve of prosperity through mining properties in Serbia when the war broke out. Mr.Newman leaves a young daughter.

Note - whilst most of the information in the obituary appears to be true, the reference to Mr.Newman being a descendant of Sir Joseph Jekyll, Lord Chief Justice of England, Great Master of the Rolls may not be correct. Jeremy Archer's Jekyll pedigree states that "Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph, Kt, P.C., Master of the Rolls, Governor of the Charterhouse, of Brookmans, North Mimms, Hertfordshire and Dallington House, Northamptonshire (built for him circa 1720), after whom Jekyll Island, Georgia was named by the State’s founder, General James Oglethorpe, bapt 3 Oct 1662 at St. Stephen, Walbrook, m. Elizabeth, dau of John Somers of Clifton, Worcester and sister of John, Baron Somers of Evesham, Lord Chancellor. See the Dictionary of National Biography. He d.s.p. 19 Aug 1738 (P.C.C. will dated 4 May 1738 and proved 4 Sep 1738) and was buried in the Rolls Chapel." See http://www.archerfamily.org.uk/, or if this website is inaccessible, the information from it can be found at this link.

Page created 10th Feb 2005;
updated 23 April 2005 with link to Violet Hunter
updated 20 Nov 2005 with note about EHA Newman's death.
updated 29 Mar 2007 with advice from John Pretty.
updated 9 May 2011