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. , it represents over 12,000 members and as ...

Sagittarius Prize {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The Sagittarius Prize was a literary award given between 1991 and 2005 by the Society of Authors for a first novel by an author over the age of sixty. Initially the prize was worth £2,000 but was increased to £4,0 ...

(for first novelists over the age of 60).

Early life

He was born in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...

, 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 sur ...

were educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

, 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 K ...

in London and then at

Westminster Hospital Medical School The Westminster Hospital Medical School was formally founded in 1834 by George Guthrie, an ex-military surgeon – although students had been taken on at Westminster Hospital almost from the hospital's foundation in 1719 (the traditional name a ...

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

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

with the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

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 Hill 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 the wife of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the third son of King George V and Queen Mary. She was the mother ...

. In 1986 he moved to 79

Harley Street Harley Street is a street in Marylebone, Central London, which has, since the 19th century housed a large number of private specialists in medicine and surgery. It was named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.< ...

where his patients included

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, t ...

Deborah Kerr Deborah Jane Trimmer CBE (30 September 192116 October 2007), known professionally as Deborah Kerr (), was a British actress. She was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress. During her international film career, Kerr won a G ...

and

Dame Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias DBE (''née'' 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 ...

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 ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

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 ( ) is an English masculine given name. The English ''Nigel'' is commonly found in records dating from the Middle Ages; however, it was not used much before being revived by 19th-century antiquarians. For instance, Walter Scott published ...

– founder of

Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a U ...

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 popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' 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 British novelists Writers from London 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 London