Walter Newbon (1750-1798)

Walter and Ann Newbon were the patriarch and matriarch of the London Newbon family. Although Walter was not the first member of the family to arrive in London (by more than half a century), he was the first London Newbon to have more than one generation of descendants, and indeed the first who still has descendants alive today. Walter and Ann amassed considerable wealth, which on their deaths was necessarily dispersed to ensure that as many of their descendants as possible would be provided for. Walter’s life charts the change in fortunes of the family, from hardworking country folk to important citizens of London. He was clearly a very capable man - on a number of occasions he had the luck to be in the right place at the right time, but he was evidently able to capitalise on good fortune. In adulthood Walter seems to have cut ties with the place of his birth, for there is no record of any kind connecting him with Northamptonshire after his departure for London in 1766 to begin his apprenticeship: from his time onwards the Newbons became an unequivocally London family.

Walter Newbon was the last of many bakers in the Newbon family. He was born in 1750 at the start of the so-called age of ‘Enlightenment’ in Europe and at a time when important changes were made to the British way of life. 1751 was the first year to begin on January 1st rather than Lady Day (25th March), for example, and in 1752 Britain adopted the Gregorian calendar we use today, losing 11 days that year in the move from the old Julian calendar. George III succeeded his grandfather George II in 1760, at the age of 22; he was 12 years Walter’s senior, but outlived him by 22 years. As Walter‘s apprenticeship drew to a close in 1775, Britain was pre-occupied with its American policies - the War of Independence broke out that year, two years after the infamous Boston Tea Party.

Walter Newbon (1750-98)

still to run of Walter’s apprenticeship, at which point William Newbon took over his step-father’s business. Walter may well have unofficially become William’s apprentice at this point. When William Newbon died in 1773 at the age of only 35 he left a widow Ann, who inherited William’s property in King’s Cliffe, as well as his business; there were no children of the marriage. In 1775 the former apprentice Walter Newbon became Ann’s second husband, just a fortnight before achieving his freedom of the City Livery Company of Bakers and with it the freedom of the City of London. In the marriage records for St Ann’s, Blackfriars in 1775 Walter was listed as a ‘bachelor of the parish of St John, Wapping’ - what his connection was with that area of London is unknown.

Life in Blackfriars
Walter and Ann Newbon lived all their married lives in the Doctors’ Commons area of Blackfriars, where their 7 children grew up. We can trace Walter and Ann’s family life through the taxation records of the City of London, as follows:

	In 1780-81 Walter’s name is listed in Water Lane, (which runs north from the river).

	In 1785-86 he can still be found in Water Lane but in another house, next to the Apothecaries’ Hall.

	By 1790-91 Walter and Ann had moved to nearby St Andrew’s Hill.



By 1796-97 Walter owned 2 adjacent properties in St Andrew’s Hill. The tax returns indicate that these would have been at the northern end of the street, with only the property of a William Feltham between the Newbons and Great Carter Lane, which runs parallel with the river. This William Feltham may have been the future husband of Walter’s daughter Sarah or, more likely, that William’s father.

It would have been primarily in St Andrew’s Hill that Walter and Ann’s children grew up – property in this street remained in the family for at least 70 years after this and a number of the houses still exist today: they are tall, narrow and elegant buildings, the tops of which can hardly be seen from the level of the narrow and winding short street.

Professional Life
Bit by bit Walter Newbon built up his business, making a number of shrewd investments, and by the time of his early death in 1798, at the age of only 48, he was a wealthy man. A newspaper report in The Times of 1792 gives a unique picture of him as the only baker in St Andrew’s Hill at this time - various local men were keen to defend Walter’s name from ambiguously worded criticism of a local baker accused of selling poor-

quality bread, and The Times was then quick to clarify this was not Walter! (For full details, see the baking section of this website). Another article in The Times, printed in 1789, reveals that Walter was one of the four church wardens of the united parish of St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe and St Ann, Blackfriars, and thus clearly a respected member of the local community.

Later years
Walter Newbon’s lengthy will tells us more about his life and his family’s situation. It was drawn up on December 21st 1797, 10 months before Walter’s death. It is possible that he was already ill at this time, although the will does not state this. He left his business, at his home in St Andrew’s Hill, to his widow Ann, with instructions to

2 friends (‘Thomas Holloway of Breams Buildings Chancery Lane gentleman and Thomas Wheeler of St Andrew’s Hill ...... glazier’), who were to act with Ann as executors of the will, as to how to sell it off if she were not willing to take on its administration. We can only speculate whether or not Ann did take it over - she certainly eventually died even more wealthy than Walter, although whether her money came from investments or from further profits from the family business is not known. Walter’s investments took the form of a number of Government securities, and he made careful financial provision for his wife and children.

There is evidence to suggest that Walter was ill for at least a short while before his death, and possibly for a year or so, if the date of his will is significant. On October 19th 1798, 3 weeks or so before his death, Walter appeared in the court of Chancery as orator (i.e. plaintiff) in a case he brought against a gentleman named Archer Wilson of Fulham. It seems that Walter had lent him a large sum of money for some leasehold property in Marylebone but had not been repaid. Although he was clearly not too ill to appear in court,

one senses here a man trying to put his estate in order, a theory backed up by the fact that 2 days later, on October 21st 1798, Walter added a codicil to his will. The last year of his life must have been a financially successful one, for, in this codicil he increased Ann’s annual allowance from the original £75 to £100. He also cancelled the appointment of his first executor, Thomas Holloway, replacing him with another friend, William Pritchard, of Printing House Square in the City, who was, like Holloway, described as a ‘gentleman’. These 2 executors acted as the guardians to his children (the youngest of whom was only 11 at this time). Walter outlined that careful consideration be taken as to the bringing up of his children and the apprenticeships and trades they took up. The will’s codicil was witnessed by one Joseph Lawrence, described as ‘servant to Mr Newbon’. We thus get a picture of a successful businessman who has become wealthy through hard work and careful investment, who numbers eminent men among his friends and who lives in relative comfort.

It was left to Ann Newbon and her 2 fellow executors to return to Chancery to regain the money owing to Walter, for he died some time in November 1798, and was buried inside the church of St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe on November 16th. The church was badly damaged in World War II and so Walter’s grave can no longer be seen. Ann, now twice widowed, lived on for a further 31 years after Walter’s death, dying in 1829 (one year before King George IV) at the age of 86. Her will, made in 1822, is considerably longer than her husband’s and her executors (her sons James and Charles) needed to pay death duty on her estate (something required only with a relatively small percentage of estates), which was valued at just under £3000. Financial provision is made in the will for all of Ann’s children and there are many bequests to her children and grandchildren of both financial investments and personal items. Two of her grandchildren, Sarah Jane Newbon (daughter of her son James) and Charles Wood Huntley Newbon (son of her son Charles), were to be the recipients of all her furniture, plate, linen, china, books and effects – a codicil to the will made in 1826 passed the bequests made to Charles Wood Huntley Newbon, who had died in 1825, to his younger brother John Newbon. Curiously, the same codicil removed a bequest of ‘apparel, jewels and personal ornaments’ made to Charles’s wife Henrietta, giving it exclusively to James’s wife Jane, whereas it had originally been a shared bequest. Ann also refers to 2 leasehold properties in St Andrew’s Hill, which seem to have passed to her eldest son James, since they appear in the will of his widow Jane, who died in 1861.

The lives of Walter’s children
All of Walter and Ann’s children married, although none of them in Walter’s lifetime.



Their eldest daughter Ann married a widower Samuel Thomas Deakin Edge at St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe in 1800. The couple lived in Cursitor Street, off Fleet Street, and had one daughter Mary Ann. Samuel, a law stationer, died in 1813 and Ann, like her mother, lived out a long widowhood, dying in 1846 in Deptford, after having lived for a time in Worthing, Sussex. The 1841 census shows her living with her sister Susannah at George Place, Lewisham. Mary Ann Edge married Charles Meredith, an ironmonger, and they settled with their family in Croydon with Mary Ann’s aunt, Susanna. Mrs Ann Edge certainly had descendants still living at the end of the 19th century.



Susanna Newbon married John Shelton, later a prominent Southwark businessman, in 1800, a month before the marriage of her elder sister Ann, also at St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe. Susanna died in 1864, some years after her husband, and, having no children of her own, left numerous legacies to her nieces and nephews.(See the section devoted to the lives of Susannah and John Shelton).

	James Newbon married Jane Cobbett at St Clement Danes on January 18th 1805. His family came to know considerable wealth in the Victorian period. (See the section devoted to the life of James Newbon).



Walter Newbon married Mary White on May 10th 1815 at Christchurch, Newgate Street, although nothing more is known about his life beyond the fact that he became a freeman of the Bakers’ Company in 1801. No trace has been found either of his or of Mary’s burial, nor do they seem to have had children. The fact that he was the first of Walter’s sons to become a member of the Bakers’ Company may indicate that this was important to him professionally. Possibly he followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a baker, although his name cannot be found in trade directories of the period. His mother’s will makes it clear that he was still alive in 1829.



Sarah Newbon married William Feltham, a Marshalsea court officer, at St Mary’s Church, Lambeth on June 1st 1801, following which the couple settled in Southwark. Two of their three children survived to adulthood. A William Feltham was a neighbour of the Newbons in St Andrew’s Hill, Blackfriars in the 1790s - he may well have been Sarah’s future father-in-law. Sarah Feltham died in 1840, 5 years after her husband.



Charles Newbon’s marriage to Henrietta Blyde took place at St Bride’s, Fleet Street in 1810. Charles became a relatively wealthy man in his own right, largely through hard work and commitment to his tailor’s business. He is a very important figure in the Newbon family, the ancestor of the vast majority of present-day Newbons and other relatives. (See the section devoted to the life of Charles Newbon).



Benjamin Newbon married Mary Ann Howling at Newington on July 8th 1822. Little is known about Benjamin’s life, beyond the fact that he became a freeman of the Bakers’ Company in 1834, although we are given no indication why he left this relatively late in his life. He is listed on the 1841 census living in Golden Lane, Cripplegate, which is where he died in 1847, 2 years after his wife. His death certificate shows that he was a cabinet-maker by trade. It seems that Benjamin and Mary Ann Newbon had no children.

Interestingly, Ann Newbon’s will makes no mention of her daughters-in-law Mary and Mary Ann, the wives of Walter and Benjamin, while bequests are made to James’s wife Jane and Charles’s wife Henrietta. This, perhaps, suggests that Walter and Benjamin did not enjoy such close relations with their mother and other members of the family. Certainly they seem to have shared neither their business drive nor high social standing, although, like their father and brothers, both became freemen of the Bakers’ Company. It also seems that neither had children, which may also account for their less prominent position within the family.

Horwood’s plan of London of 1792-99 (reproduced by permission of the Guildhall Library, City of London) shows Water Lane (left) and St Andrew’s Hill (right),
two homes of the Newbon family in the late-18th century

St Andrew’s Hill, Blackfriars, home of the Newbon family
at the end of the 18th century

The Church of St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe,
where Walter and Ann Newbon were buried

Born:	1750 (King’s Cliffe, Northamptonshire)	Died:	1798 (Blackfriars)
Father:	William Newbon (1717-1784)	Mother:	Ann Newbon, formerly Swepston (1723-1799)
Spouse:	Ann Newbon, formerly Dixon (1743-1829)	Occupation:	Baker
Children:	Ann Newbon (1775-46), Susannah Newbon (1777-1864), James Newbon (1778-1830), Walter Newbon (1780-?), Sarah Newbon (1781-1840), Charles Newbon (1784-1859), Benjamin Newbon (1787-1847)