Monday 14 May 2012

Reuben Newnham (1855-1922)

Reuben Newnham (1855-1922) in 1905
There is long-standing story in the Newnham family that Reuben was either Jewish or had Jewish connections.
Although I have investigated his life in some detail there is no evidence to support this story.

Reuben was the last of ten children born to John Edmund Joseph Newnham and Frances Merzaler Mallery. It may be that John and Frances had a liking for more unusual names - Frances herself was given the middle name of Merzaler or Mezaler. It is so rare that the only other person with this given name that I can discover was her grand-daughter, Eleanor Herberta Merzaler Newnham, although it also exits as a very rare surname and French place name. It is likely to be a variant of Mahaliah, a name of Hebrew origin, meaning "tender one".

Also, unusually for such an early period, John had three given names and all his brothers and sisters - born between 1807 and 1833 had either two or three given names. This practice was usually the preserve of the nobility, and was very unusual for a carpenter/bricklayer.

Back to Reuben: He was born in Woolwich, Kent on the 24th August 1855 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen, Woolwich on 7th October 1855. In August 1872 he travelled to the United States to visit his brother, Robert George Newnham, who had emigrated to Toledo, Ohio in June of the same year. It is likely that Reuben was intending to find work in America with a view to staying there permanently. Whilst no record of his travels around America has been uncovered, he may have travelled to Chicago, Illinois and it seems he certainly had a high regard for America. This is evidenced when, on his return to England, he became a house builder. His own house in Balmoral Road, Gillingham, was called "Chicago" and at least three terraces of his houses had American-influenced names" Toledo Paddock (off Balmoral Road), Lincoln Terrace and Washington Terrace (Burnt Oak Terrace).

But of any Jewish influence or connections there is no evidence. It is certainly possible that he did not hold strong Christian beliefs, although he did become a Mason. He was married in church (at Holy Trinity, Sheerness, Kent in 1884), but it seems that only one of his children was baptised: Agnes Adelaide Newnham, who was baptised at the age of 14 in 1902. I have yet to find any record of the baptism of any of the other 12 children that were born to Reuben and his wife, Agnes Julia Tillett.


1 comment:

  1. There seems to be some evidence that the Mallerys had some Gypsy or traveller connections.

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