I have five references to Henry Brown Newman.

1. One (an incorrect one) comes from my father's records which state that Henry Brown Newman was Rector of Sparkford. This information is certainly wrong since it can be seen from the listing of Rectors hanging inside Sparkford church, there were no Newmans appointed rector there after Henry Brown Newman's father Edwin Sandys Newman, who died in office in 1836. Edwin Sandys Newman was succeeded by Henry Bennett, a descendant of James Bennett who had purchased the reversionary rights to Cadbury and Sparkford estates from Edwin's uncle Francis in the early 1790s. James Bennett nephew succeeded to these estates, and he in turn left the Cadbury estate to his eldest son James and the Sparkford one to his younger son Henry, who also became Rector of Sparkford after the death of Edwin Sandys Newman.
2. The second reference comes from Tony Newman in the Newman Chronicle where he states:

   "Henry Brown NEWMAN (1798) - (11 JAN 1878) m. Elizabeth HOOPER, matriculated Wadham College, Oxford 06 Dec 1815 aged 17, scholar 1816-25, B.A. 1819, M.A. 1825, Fellow 1825-38, of Babcary, Somerset in 1838 - trustee of land in Blandford Forum (Reg. of Voters), Rector of Little Bromley, Essex 1838, until his death in 1878."

   This version is to some extent confirmed by the 1871 census which shows Henry Brown Newman, 72, born at Shepton (Shepton Mallet?), Somerset, Rector of Little Bromley, Essex, living in Church Road with his wife Elizabeth, 65, who was born in Yeovil, Somerset. No children are recorded staying with them.

3. The third came to me from Jack Paynter (John Bernard Pendarves Paynter, second son of Edwin Pendarves Paynter and grand-son of James Bernard Paynter), who (on 21st Dec 2002) sent me the following message and photo which relates to Henry Brown Newman:

   "I thought you might be interested in this photo of a silver salver that I have just cleaned for Christmas. It reads "A token of esteem from the indabitants of Glastonbury to the Rev H B Newman MA in remembrance of the kind, faithful, and Christian discharge of his pastoral duties whilst among them AD1834." (It must have taken ages to get that inscription right at the parish council meeting)."



4. Bob Senior of www.butleigh.org wrote to me in May 2011 to say that he was "just in the process of comparing the Bishops transcripst with the Parish records and note that both Henry Brown Newman conducted baptisms, marriages and burials in Butleigh (three miles south of Glastonbury, Somerset) and occasionally his father Edwin Sandys Newman too".
5. A letter from Sophia Rawlins(?) to my father dated 4 Apr 1961, states that Hendford Manor was owned by her great-great-grandfather John Hooper from 1792 to 1825. It was then owned by her great-great-uncle the Rev. James Hooper, who sold it to Edwin Newman who used it as his home and as the headquarters of his law firm "Newman Paynter & Co". John Hooper's younger daughter Elizabeth married Rev. Henry Brown Newman.

Page updated : 2 Aug 2013