Sir Frank Newnes, 2nd Baronet
Encyclopedia
Sir Frank Hillyard Newnes (28 September 1876 – 10 July 1955) was a British
publisher, businessman and Liberal
politician
.
, the son of George Newnes
, the newspaper publisher and Liberal MP first for Newmarket
and later for Swansea
. His mother was Priscilla Newnes (nee Hillyard) the daughter of the Reverend James Hillyard. He had an older brother who died aged eight years and whose death was said to have devastated his father. Newnes was educated privately before attending Clare College, Cambridge
where he graduated with MA
and LL.B.
degrees in 1897.
In 1913 Newnes married Emmeline Augusta Louisa (Lena), the daughter of the late Sir Albert de Rutzen, who had held the office of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate
at Bow Street
. Lena Newnes became a well known society hostess and philanthropist
, raising thousands of pounds for various charitable and educational causes. She was a Dame of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem
. She died in 1939. Newnes married again in 1946. His second wife was Dorothy (nee Darlot), the widow of Stephen Delmar-Morgan, who was originally from Perth, Western Australia
. There were no children from either marriage.
, the Liberal supporting newspaper founded by his father. The paper was dubbed the ‘pea-green incorruptible’ – Mr Gladstone
having personally approved its green colour. Newnes also had other commercial and investment interests and served on the boards of the Norwich Union
Fire Insurance Society and Norwich Union Life Insurance Society. He also served as a director of City & Commercial Investment Trusts Ltd and Redeemable Securities Trust Ltd and was Chairman of Associated Weavers
, Ltd and Armoride Ltd. In addition to his business career, Newnes was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple
in 1898, although it is not recorded that he ever practiced the law.
in north Nottinghamshire
at the 1906 general election
, gaining the seat from the Conservatives
by a majority of 531 votes. However the seat returned to the Tories at the January 1910 election by the even narrower margin of 341 votes. He did not stand for Parliament again. However his father died in 1910 and Newnes inherited the baronetcy
.
in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
. Two years later he transferred to the army
and attained the rank of Captain
in the 12th Battalion, the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment
.
and its Medical School and also served as Chairman of the Post-Graduate Institute of Dental Surgery and of the Eastman Dental Hospital
. In his publishing charity work, Newnes became President of the Printers Pension Corporation and was a vice-president of the Periodical Proprietors Association. In 1949 he was appointed a Commander of the Order of St John.
on 10 July 1955 at the age of 78 years. As he had no children the Newnes baronetcy became extinct on his death
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
publisher, businessman and Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
.
Family and education
Frank Hillyard Newnes was born in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, the son of George Newnes
George Newnes
Sir George Newnes, 1st Baronet was a publisher and editor in England.-Background and education:...
, the newspaper publisher and Liberal MP first for Newmarket
Newmarket (UK Parliament constituency)
Newmarket is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was created upon the splitting up of the three member Cambridgeshire constituency into three single member divisions in 1885. The seat was abolished in 1918.-Boundaries:...
and later for Swansea
Swansea (UK Parliament constituency)
Swansea was a borough constituency. It was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
. His mother was Priscilla Newnes (nee Hillyard) the daughter of the Reverend James Hillyard. He had an older brother who died aged eight years and whose death was said to have devastated his father. Newnes was educated privately before attending Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs"...
where he graduated with MA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
and LL.B.
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
degrees in 1897.
In 1913 Newnes married Emmeline Augusta Louisa (Lena), the daughter of the late Sir Albert de Rutzen, who had held the office of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
at Bow Street
Bow Street
Bow Street is a thoroughfare in Covent Garden, Westminster, London. It features as one of the streets on the standard London Monopoly board....
. Lena Newnes became a well known society hostess and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
, raising thousands of pounds for various charitable and educational causes. She was a Dame of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
. She died in 1939. Newnes married again in 1946. His second wife was Dorothy (nee Darlot), the widow of Stephen Delmar-Morgan, who was originally from Perth, Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
. There were no children from either marriage.
Career
On leaving university in 1897, Newnes followed his father into his publishing business, eventually becoming President of George Newnes Ltd. He also became Chairman of Country Life, Ltd and a director of other companies in the publishing trade, including the Westminster GazetteWestminster Gazette
The Westminster Gazette was an influential Liberal newspaper based in London. It was known for publishing sketches and short stories, including early works by Raymond Chandler, Anthony Hope and Saki, and travel writing by Rupert Brooke. One of its editors was caricaturist and political cartoonist...
, the Liberal supporting newspaper founded by his father. The paper was dubbed the ‘pea-green incorruptible’ – Mr Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
having personally approved its green colour. Newnes also had other commercial and investment interests and served on the boards of the Norwich Union
Norwich Union
Norwich Union was the name given to insurance company Aviva's British arm before June 2009. It was originally established in 1797. It is the biggest life insurance provider in the United Kingdom, and has a strong position in motor insurance...
Fire Insurance Society and Norwich Union Life Insurance Society. He also served as a director of City & Commercial Investment Trusts Ltd and Redeemable Securities Trust Ltd and was Chairman of Associated Weavers
Associated Weavers
Associated Weavers International Group is a Belgian textile manufacturing company. The company head office in located in Ronse.-History:The company was founded in Bradford, West Yorkshire and run by the Abrahams family...
, Ltd and Armoride Ltd. In addition to his business career, Newnes was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
in 1898, although it is not recorded that he ever practiced the law.
Politics
Newnes also followed his father in his political persuasions. A sometime member of the National Liberal Council, he was elected Liberal MP for BassetlawBassetlaw (UK Parliament constituency)
Bassetlaw is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
in north Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
at the 1906 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1906
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
, gaining the seat from the Conservatives
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
by a majority of 531 votes. However the seat returned to the Tories at the January 1910 election by the even narrower margin of 341 votes. He did not stand for Parliament again. However his father died in 1910 and Newnes inherited the baronetcy
Newnes Baronets
The Newnes Baronetcy, of Wildcroft in the Parish of Putney in the County of London; of Hollerday Hill in the Parish of Lynton, and of Hesketh House in the Borough of Torquay, both in the County of Devon, was a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 15 february 1895 for the...
.
War Service
In 1915, Newnes was commissioned a sub-lieutenantSub-Lieutenant
Sub-lieutenant is a military rank. It is normally a junior officer rank.In many navies, a sub-lieutenant is a naval commissioned or subordinate officer, ranking below a lieutenant. In the Royal Navy the rank of sub-lieutenant is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant in the British Army and of...
in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Royal Naval Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present Royal Naval Reserve was formed in 1958 by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve , a reserve of civilian volunteers founded in 1903...
. Two years later he transferred to the army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and attained the rank of Captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
in the 12th Battalion, the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment
The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment was the final title of an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army originally formed in 1688...
.
Public and charity appointments
Newnes’ main non-political interests were in public health matters and he also understandably busied himself with press related charities. He was a member of the Voluntary Hospitals Committee for London, a member of the management committees of the Royal Free HospitalRoyal Free Hospital
The Royal Free Hospital is a major teaching hospital in Hampstead, London, England and part of the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust....
and its Medical School and also served as Chairman of the Post-Graduate Institute of Dental Surgery and of the Eastman Dental Hospital
Eastman Dental Hospital
The Eastman Dental Hospital is a specialist hospital for dental treatment in London, United Kingdom and forms a part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust...
. In his publishing charity work, Newnes became President of the Printers Pension Corporation and was a vice-president of the Periodical Proprietors Association. In 1949 he was appointed a Commander of the Order of St John.
Death
Newnes died in Western AustraliaWestern Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
on 10 July 1955 at the age of 78 years. As he had no children the Newnes baronetcy became extinct on his death