Robert Edwin Newbery MC (1884–1967) was one of the two founding partners of Dale and Newbery, the firm of solicitors that has had offices in Southeast England since 1911. He also co-invented the internal triple air flow regulator for the oil burning lamp, which widened the flame for increased light emittance.

Education

Robert Edwin Newbery was born on 24 April 1884 in

Shoreditch Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an impor ...

London, son of John Newbery and Elizabeth Temperance Gravatt. He grew up on the family farm in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

and was educated at

Wellingborough School Wellingborough School is a co-educational day independent school in the market town of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire. It was established in 1595 and is one of the oldest schools in the country. The school today consists of a Prep school ...

and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

(1903) where he read

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

, gaining a BA in 1907 (MA in 1912), under the tutorship of the classical Greek scholar, E. E. Sikes. After Cambridge he qualified in law at the

Inns of Court School of Law The City Law School is one of the five schools of City, University of London. In 2001, the Inns of Court School of Law became part of City, and is now known as the City Law School. Until 1997, the ICSL had a monopoly on the provision of the Bar ...

and practised as an assistant solicitor before joining Dale and Newbery in 1911.

Military service

In 1916 Newbery joined the Inns of Court Officers Training Corps and was commissioned

Second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

into 55th Battalion,

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in the First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tanks ...

on 26 August 1917. He was posted to France as part of the British

18th (Eastern) Division The 18th (Eastern) Division was an infantry division of the British Army formed in September 1914 during the First World War as part of the K2 Army Group, part of Lord Kitchener's New Armies. From its creation the division trained in England u ...

. During the

Battle of the Selle The Battle of the Selle (17–25 October 1918) was a battle between Allied forces and the German Army, fought during the Hundred Days Offensive of World War I. Prelude After the Second Battle of Cambrai, the Allies advanced almost and liber ...

on 22 October 1918, Newbery crawled forward under sustained German machine gun fire, eventually reaching 200m in advance of his infantry front line. Despite constant fire at close range he was able set up a single machine gun which he then used to return fire successfully on the German position. With the German machine gun position destroyed, the British Infantry could advance unimpeded. Newbery was subsequently awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

(MC) or his actions in what became one of the last battles of the Western Front. The citation for his MC reads: After the war Newbery returned to work with Dale and Newbery, but continued serving as a captain in the Territorial Army (TA) with the 8th Battalion of the

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Re ...

Honours and decorations

British War Medal The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were struck in si ...

Victory Medal

Personal life

Robert Newbery first married Gertrude Eleanor Nicholson Bourner in 1909 with whom he had four sons: Valentine Roy Newbery (b. 1910), John Alec Newbery (Royal Regiment of Artillery, MBE 1963) and Gerald Edwin Newbery (Royal Regiment of Artillery, MBE 1946) (identical twins, b. 1911) and Dennis Allen Newbery (b. 1916). He married a second time in 1937 to Olga Eileen Jackson from Liverpool (great granddaughter of the inventor

Sampson Moore Sampson Moore (1812–1877) was an English engineer and inventor based in Liverpool, England during the industrial revolution. His company, Sampson Moore & Co. produced a number of notable inventions. Overview Moore (1812–1877) was an engin ...

and descendant of the lawyer

Sir Anthony Jackson Sir Anthony Jackson (1599–1666) was an English lawyer, soldier, and knight in the seventeenth century. A cavalier during the English Civil War, he was knighted by Charles II, participated in the Battle of Worcester, and was imprisoned in the To ...

"Jacksons of Liverpool Quaker family tree" http://www.thesilverbowl.com/familytree/JACKSON-Quaker-Tree.html#_ftn5). They had one daughter: Penelope Gael Newbery (b. 1943), mother to the eye surgeon Dr Robert E MacLaren, after whom he was named. Robert Newbery died in Farnham in Surrey on 21 January 1967.

References

External links

Improvement in or relating to oil burning lamps, UK Patent 416934
* ttps://archive.org/details/innsofcourtoffic00erri Inns of Court OTC During the Great War by Lt Col FHL Errington, 1920 {{DEFAULTSORT:Newbery, Robert People educated at Wellingborough School Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge British Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Military Cross Machine Gun Corps officers 1884 births 1967 deaths 20th-century English lawyers Military personnel from London