Abram (or Abraham) Newman (1736–1799) was one of the wealthiest men in 18th century London. He spent his life as a partner in one of the leading
grocer
A grocery store (American English, AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop (British English, BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food Product (business), products, which may be Fresh food, fresh or Food p ...
s, importing a wide range of produce including tea, coffee, sugar and spices.
Life
Abram was born at
Mount Bures in
Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
in 1736, the son of Thomas Newman of Mount Hall in the same parish and his wife, Anne, the daughter of Hugh Constable of
Bures St Mary. Through his mother, Abram was the first cousin of Golding Constable of
East Bergholt in
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
, the father of the artist,
John Constable
John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...
. Through his father, Abram was a descendant of
Colonel Richard Newman, who assisted King
Charles II in his flight from the
Battle of Worcester
The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1642 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell def ...
.
Abram went to the
City of London
The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
and entered the business world as a grocer. On 12 June 1759, he married Mary (1720–1783), the sister of
Monkhouse Davison, a partner in the firm of Rawlinson and Davison, "dealers in coffee, tea, chocolate,
snuff, etc" of
Creechurch Lane. Two years later, he was made a freeman of the
Grocer's Company and, in 1764, he joined his brother-in-law's company as a third partner.
Five years later, the senior partner, Thomas Rawlinson (not to be confused with his great-uncle
Sir Thomas Rawlinson,
Lord Mayor
Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...
in 1706), died and the company became known as
Davison, Newman and Co., the name under which it still operates today. In 1774, chests of tea from Newman's company were amongst those thrown into
Boston Harbour during the
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a seminal American protest, political and Mercantilism, mercantile protest on December 16, 1773, during the American Revolution. Initiated by Sons of Liberty activists in Boston in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colo ...
which started the
American Revolution
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
. The company sought compensation from George III for £480 for the loss of the tea.
In 1790, Newman purchased the manor of Mount Bures. Davison died three years later. Newman retired shortly afterwards and followed him to the grave on 8 March 1799 at his house in
Fenchurch Street
Fenchurch Street is a street in London, England, linking Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street in the west. It is a well-known thoroughfare in the City of London financial district and is the site of many cor ...
.
:"He was one of the richest citizens of London, and a happy instance of the wonderful powers of accumulation by the steady pursuit of honourable industry. Without speculation or adventure he acquired £600,000 as a grocer. He retired from trade about four years ago
795 but so forcible was his habit that he came every day to the shop, and ate his
mutton chop at 2 o'clock (the good old city hour) with his successors...." (See
Dinner#Ancient.)
Newman had no sons, and his heirs were his two daughters, Anne, wife of
George Caswell, and Jane, wife of
William Thoyts of
Sulhamstead Abbots in
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...
. Davison, Newman and his wife were buried together in
All Hallows Staining. After the collapse of the crypt there, their monument was to be seen in the church of
St Olave Hart Street, London until it suffered
bomb damage in May 1941[HUNT, Percival, Samuel Pepys in the Diary. University of Pittsburgh Press: ittsburgh,1958. pp. 178. British Library 11874.t.7.] during the Second World War.
See also
*
Monkhouse Davison gives a more detailed account of the business
References
External links
History of the Newman Family in Mount Bures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newman, Abram
English businesspeople
People from the Borough of Colchester
People from the City of London
1736 births
1799 deaths
British grocers