My interest in the surname Newbon comes from my maternal grandmother, whose parents were Walter Thomas and Rhoda Matilda Newbon. I had been interested in the history of my grandmother’s family for some time before her death, but when a large number of family photographs and some old documents passed into my possession at that time I decided to focus my research on my Newbon ancestors.

Many archives have been consulted over a considerable period of time to acquire the factual information included in this history: documents of civil registration (birth, death and marriage certificates), those census returns available for consultation at the time of writing (1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901), local directories (trade and postal), parish records (baptisms, marriages and burials), wills and probate records, newspapers, school and university records, many maps and plans, and so on. (For a full list of sources see Documents available).

Much information has also been collected from helpful relatives, who have happily delved into the farthest recesses of their memories; I must thank them particularly. I am also very grateful to more distant relatives with whom I have been in contact while researching the Newbon family history, a number of whom have passed on to me considerable amounts of information concerning their own branches of the family. One of the greatest pleasures of genealogical research is getting to know so many people - this is, of course, the family history of many individuals, often separated by time and distance, but related nonetheless. The section on the Background to the Surname NEWBON will show that the surname Newbon is today far from common, with only a handful of different families possessing the name in England.

Much of this website deals with one particular Newbon family, charting its presence in London back to 1766 and beyond that to Northamptonshire, although some detail of other related families has also been included. Generally such extensive research has been possible, particularly in London, because the name is so unusual, with fears of confusion with unrelated families of the same name negligible.

It must be said that a history of this nature can never be considered complete and the contents of this website represent the current state of ongoing research - my aim is to update as frequently as possible, as new information comes to light. I have, however, arrived at a point from where I felt I could present the family’s story without obvious gaps. I hope these pages may prove interesting to others descended from the Newbon family, and indeed to those lucky few whose surname is Newbon!