Sir Francis James Newton (1857 – 8 May 1948) was a senior colonial administrator in different parts of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

, principally in Southern Rhodesia (now

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

Early life

He was the son of Francis Rodes Newton (1827–1886), an English planter from

Elveden Hall Elveden Hall is a large stately home on the Elveden Estate in Elveden, Suffolk, England. The seat of the Earls of Iveagh, it is a Grade II* listed building. It is located centrally to the village and is close to the A11 and the Parish Church. Curre ...

in Suffolk, and his Danish wife Anna Louisa (1833–1862), daughter of Major Jacob Heitmann Gyllich,

Knight of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known ...

, and his wife Adrianna Louise von Meley. His English grandfather was William Newton MP, while among his uncles were the scientist

Alfred Newton Alfred Newton Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE (11 June 18297 June 1907) was an England, English zoology, zoologist and ornithology, ornithologist. Newton was Professor of Comparative Anatomy at Cambridge University from 1866 to 1907. Amo ...

, the colonial administrator Sir

Edward Newton Sir Edward Newton (10 November 1832 – 25 April 1897) was a British colonial administrator and ornithologist. He was born at Elveden Hall, Suffolk the sixth and youngest son of William Newton (MP for Ipswich), William Newton, MP. He was the ...

and the Army officer General Sir

William Samuel Newton William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

Career

After graduating with an MA, he worked in the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

, first as private secretary to the Prime Minister,

Thomas Charles Scanlen Sir Thomas Charles Scanlen (9 July 1834 – 15 December 1912) was a politician and administrator of the Cape Colony. He was briefly Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, from 1881 to 1884, during an especially turbulent period in the Cape's histo ...

, and then as aide-de-camp and private secretary to the Governor, Sir

Hercules Robinson Hercules George Robert Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead, (19 December 1824 – 28 October 1897), was a British colonial administrator who became the 5th Governor of Hong Kong and subsequently, the 14th Governor of New South Wales, the first Gove ...

. Adding a legal qualification to his skills, he became a barrister of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1890. In 1890 he was appointed Colonial Secretary and Receiver General of

British Bechuanaland British Bechuanaland was a short-lived Crown colony of the United Kingdom that existed in southern Africa from its formation on 30 September 1885 until its annexation to the neighbouring Cape Colony on 16 November 1895. British Bechuanaland h ...

, followed in 1895 by the post of Resident Commissioner of the

Bechuanaland Protectorate The Bechuanaland Protectorate () was a British protectorate, protectorate established on 31 March 1885, by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (later the United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) in So ...

, now

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

, but after the

Jameson Raid The Jameson Raid (29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896) was a botched Raid (military), raid against the South African Republic (commonly known as the Transvaal) carried out by British colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson, under the emplo ...

was dismissed. In 1898 he received the post of Colonial Secretary of

British Honduras British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,

, now

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

, after which, staying in the Caribbean, in 1901 he became Colonial Secretary of

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

, receiving appointment to the Colony's Legislative Council. Returning to Southern Africa, he was nominated to the Legislative Council of Southern Rhodesia in 1903 and appointed Treasurer. For a spell in 1914 he was Acting

Administrator of Southern Rhodesia The British South Africa Company appointed a variety of officials to govern Southern Rhodesia (called Zimbabwe since 1980) between 1890 and 1923. The most prominent of these were the Administrator and the Chief Magistrate, the first of which was i ...

. In 1923 he was appointed Colonial Secretary of Southern Rhodesia and in the 1924 election to the Assembly came top of the poll for the constituency of Mazoe (as it was then spelled). However he resigned on 26 August 1924 on appointment as High Commissioner of Southern Rhodesia to the United Kingdom, a post he held until he was succeeded by

John Wallace Downie John Wallace Downie (1876 – 22 August 1940) served as High Commissioner of Southern Rhodesia from 1930 to 1935. Early life The son of Christopher Downie, a Guard on the Caledonian Railway and later Lanark Station Master, was born on 28 Decemb ...

in 1930.

Honours

In the 1892 New Year Honours he was appointed a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG). In 1911 he received appointment as a Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

(CVO) and finally in 1919 the award of a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG).

Family

In 1889 in the Cape Colony he married Henrietta, the daughter of Daniel Cloete, an Afrikaner brewer who sat on the Legislative Council. Her sister Anna Evangeline was the wife of Major-General Sir Edward Northey. Their only child to reach adulthood, Charles Hercules Francis Augustus Newton, an officer in the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

, was killed in action in Belgium in 1916. In Southern Rhodesia he owned the Pimento Park plantation at Mazowe, which was inherited by his great-nephew Oliver Newton. He died in the hospital at Bindura and his will was proved in London on 22 September 1948.

Portraits

Portraits of Francis and of

Henrietta Henrietta may refer to: * Henrietta (given name), a feminine given name, derived from the male name Henry Places * Henrietta Island in the Arctic Ocean * Henrietta, Mauritius * Henrietta, Tasmania, a locality in Australia United States * Henrie ...

are in the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton, Francis James 1857 births 1948 deaths Alumni of University College, Oxford Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Commissioners of the Bechuanaland Protectorate Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George High Commissioners of Rhodesia to the United Kingdom Governors of Southern Rhodesia Members of the Legislative Assembly of Southern Rhodesia