William Kenneth Newton (6 November 1927 – 6 March 2010) was an English doctor who treated British and foreign royalty as well as many celebrities, and after retirement wrote the acclaimed novel '' The Two Pound Tram'' (under the name William Newton) which won the 2005

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. Membership of the society is open to "anyon ...

Sagittarius Prize (for first novelists over the age of 60).

Early life

He was born in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

, west London the son of racing driver Frank Newton (who won the Montagu Cup in 1908 at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

). He and his brother

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

were educated at

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

, Peter went on to be a pioneer of California's Napa Valley wine industry. Kenneth went on to study medicine at

King's College Hospital King's College Hospital is a major teaching hospital and major trauma centre in Denmark Hill, Camberwell in the London Borough of Lambeth, referred to locally and by staff simply as "King's" or abbreviated internally to "KCH". It is managed by ...

in London and then at

Westminster Hospital Medical School The Westminster Hospital Medical School was one of the constituent medical schools of Imperial College School of Medicine. It was formally founded in 1834 by George Guthrie, an ex-military surgeon – although students had been taken on at Wes ...

before volunteering to serve as a medical officer in North Africa and

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

with the

Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

Medical practice

After working with Sir Francis Leslie, in 1960 he set up his own practice at 60

Cadogan Square Cadogan Square () is a residential square in Knightsbridge, London, that was named after Earl Cadogan. Whilst it is mainly a residential area, some of the properties are used for diplomatic and educational purposes (notably Sussex House School ...

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

which he expanded to offer consultation, radiology, pathology and a dispensary; among his patients was

Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (born Lady Alice Christabel Montagu Douglas Scott; 25 December 1901 – 29 October 2004) was a member of the British royal family. She was the wife of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the third son of King ...

. In 1986 he moved to 79

Harley Street Harley Street is a street in Marylebone, Central London, named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.Audrey Hepburn Audrey Kathleen Hepburn ( Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Holly ...

Deborah Kerr Deborah Jane Trimmer CBE (30 September 192116 October 2007), known professionally as Deborah Kerr (), was a Scottish actress. She was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the first person from Scotland to be no ...

and

Dame Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias DBE ( Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn (), was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with the Royal Ballet (formerly the Sadler's Wells Theatr ...

and members of the Bahrain Royal family until his formal retirement in 1998, although he continued treating patients on a part-time basis until 2003. He retired to Fawley Manor 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 ...

which he bought in 1983 and completely renovated.

Writing

In 2003 he wrote his prize-winning first novel '' The Two Pound Tram''. He gave the manuscript to his nephew

Nigel Newton Nigel Newton (born 16 June 1955) is an American-born British publisher. He is the founder and chief executive (CEO) of Bloomsbury Publishing. Early life Nigel Newton was born on 16 June 1955 in San Francisco, California. He was born to an Ameri ...

– founder of

Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in ...

who, not wanting to get involved, passed it to on to his editorial staff. It was published in 2003 to great acclaim. His second novel ''The Mistress of Abha '' was published posthumously in 2011.

Death

He died at home on 6 March 2010 and is survived by his son and daughter and second wife, Mary whom he married in 1985.

Sources

Obituary
from ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' 22 April 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton, Kenneth 1927 births 2010 deaths 20th-century English medical doctors People from Ealing People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of King's College London Grenadier Guards officers 21st-century English novelists Writers from the London Borough of Ealing English male novelists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers People from West Berkshire District 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers Military personnel from the London Borough of Ealing 20th-century British Army personnel