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Edward NEWMAN (1781/2–1862)
His daughter Miss Harriet NEWMAN (1824–1905)
St Mary Magdalen section: Row 14, Grave D60

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The name above Harriet’s must be that of one of her parents, as she is described as the “daughter of the above”. Since her mother died before St Sepulchre’s Cemetery opened, the person who was buried in this grave before her can only be her father.

Edward Newman was born in 1781/2: the 1851 census stated that he was born in Oxford, but the 1861 census that his birthplace was unknown. He may be the child of that name born in Headington and baptised at St Andrew’s Church there on 30 April 1781: this child’s parents were John Newman and Hannah Jacob, who were married there on 29 September 1777 and whose older son William was baptised at St Giles’s Church on 29 March 1778.

In 1803 when he was aged about 21, Edward Newman became the landlord of the Black Swan, a pub in George Street that stood on part of the site now occupied by the former Boys’ High School. This was in St Mary Magdalen parish

On 24 April 1811 at Cumnor Church, Edward Newman, described as being of St Mary Magdalen parish, married his first wife Martha Godfrey of Cumnor, and she moved into the Black Swan with him. They had one child:

• John Newman (baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 18 November 1812);
  died aged six months and buried in that churchyard on 10 April 1813.

Edward’s first wife Martha herself died a year later at the age of 31 and was buried at St Mary Magdalen churchyard on 9 May 1814.

On 16 January 1822 at St Mary Magdalen Church, Edward Newman married his second wife, the widow Mrs Sarah Hambridge, and both were described as being of that parish. They had the following children, all born at the Black Swan in George Street:

• Jane Newman (born in 1823 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 5 February)
• Henry Newman TWIN (born in 1824 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 12 October)
• Harriet Newman TWIN (born in 1824 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 12 October)
• Elizabeth Caroline Newman (born in 1826 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 19 July)
• Sarah Newman (born in 1828 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 2 May)
• John James Newman (born in 1840 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 29 March);
  died aged 11 in 1850.

At the time of the 1841 census Edward Newman was living at the Black Swan pub in George Street, where he had been the victualler for 38 years, with his wife Sarah and their six children: Jane, Henry (who was a compositor), Harriet (25), Elizabeth (14), Sara (12), and John (1).

Their eldest daughter Jane was married in 1847

• On 27 December 1847 at St Mary Magdalen Church, Oxford, Jane Newman married William Thomas Curtis, a copperplate printer of Marylebone, London.

Mrs Sarah Newman died at George Street at the age of 56 in 1848: her death occurred just few months before St Sepulchre’s Cemetery opened, and so she was buried in the St Mary Magdalen churchyard on 27 April.

Edward and Sarah’s daughter Sarah Newman died at George Street two years later and was buried on 5 June 1850: she may have been buried in another grave in St Sepulchre’s Cemetery. Their son John James Newman died in 1850 at the age of 11 and was buried on 19 September, probably with his sister.

At the time of the 1851 census Edward Newman, a widower of 69, was still working as a victualler at 22 George Street and his son Henry (26), who was a compositor and his daughter Elizabeth (23), who was a dressmaker was living with him, as well as his daughter Jane’s little girl, Jane Curtis (2), born in London. Harriet (25) had left home and was working as a servant in the adjoining parish (see below).

His son Henry Newman died at George Street later that year at the age of 27, and was buried on 31 October 1851, possibly in the same grave as his sister Sarah and brother John.

Edward Newman's third daughter Elizabeth was married in London in 1854:

• On 4 September 1854 at St James’s Church, Clerkenwell, Elizabeth Caroline Newman married Thomas Wells.

At the time of the 1861 census Edward Newman, a widower of 79, was described as a former a publican and was boarding with the Boon family at 1 Elm Cottages off George Street, in the south-east part that fell in St Michael’s parish. He died there the following year:

† Edward Newman died at Elm Cottages at the age of 80 in May 1862 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 24 May (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).

The St Mary Magdalen parish register mentions that Edward Newman died in a different parish, but he had probably reserved this grave when he was still living at the Black Swan.

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Harriet Newman

Edward Newman’s daughter Harriet (25) never married, and spent her working life as a servant.

In 1851 she was a servant in the home of the doctor James Ogle at 63 St Giles’s Street, Oxford.

By 1861 she was a lady’s maid in the household of Richard Lynch Cotton, the Provost of Worcester College, and on census night that year was away on a visit in Dinedor, Herefordshire with the Provost and his wife Charlotte and their 20-year-old daughter Amelia. On the census night of 1871 she was again on a visit, this time to Kent with just the Provost and his daughter.

Richard Lynch Cotton died on 8 December 1880, and his wife and daughter moved to 38 St Giles’s Street (the north half of St Benet’s Hall). At the time of the 1881 census Harriet (56) was living there with Mrs Charlotte Bouverie Cotton (73) and her daughter Amelia (40) and working as their housekeeper; they also employed a nurse, cook, and housemaid. Mrs Cotton died there in 1883, and Harriet appears to have retired.

In 1891 Harriet (66) was living on her own means in a single room at 169 Junction Road, Islington.

By 1901 Harriet (75), who now described herself as a retired servant, was lodging at 74 Southmoor Road. She died there four years later:

† Miss Harriet Newman died at 74 Southmoor Road at the age of 81 on 17 November 1905 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 20 November (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).

Her effects came to £128 15s., and her executors were the jeweller Frederick Wells and his wife Harriet.

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The two surviving children of George Newman, and sisters of Harriet

• Jane Newman, Mrs Curtis (born 1823) was living at 7 Princes Terrace, St Pancras in 1851 with her husband William and their daughter Mary Anne (five months). In 1861 they were at 8 Castle Place, Kentish Town with Sarah Jane (12), Harriet (10), William (8), and Henry (1), plus three lodgers. In 1871 they were living at 7 Bedford Road, Islington with three of their children: Sarah (22), who was a costumier; William (18), who was a pianoforte maker; and Henry (11). In 1881 Jane and her husband were living at Wellesley Road, St Pancras, and all their children had left home. Jane died at St Pancras at the age of 62 in 1885.
• Elizabeth Caroline Newman, Mrs Wells (born 1826) was living at 109 Crawford Street, Marylebone in 1861 with her husband James, who was a watchmaker, and their children Emily (4), Henry (2), and Arthur (two months). In 1871 they were living at 17 Marylebone High Street, and then had another four children: Edward (8), Elizabeth (6), Frederick (4), and James (1); they were still there in 1881 with three of their children. Her husband died in 1884. In 1891 she was living at 15 Hanway Street, Marylebone with five of her children: Henry, Edward, and James were all working as silversmiths. Mrs Elizabeth Caroline Wells died at 15 Hanway Street, which runs off Oxford Street, in London on 16 January 1892, and her effects came to £1292 12s. 4d.