The Newark Book of family Achievements

Perhaps you know of a Newark who should be in this book or who has superseded the records shown here?  Perhaps there are other categories that could be included?  Send an email giving details and if possible a picture or photo.

Longest lived NEWARK male:  Albert Ernest Victor “Bert” Newark (1891-1993), 101 years 359 days.

Bert is the brother of Emily Grace Victoria Newark, longest lived Newark female.

On the occasion of Albert's 100th birthday on December 31st, 1991 he was given a special party at his retirement home located at 33 Harwood Place, Kingsworthy, Winchester, Hants.  He was in great form and took the all the interviews by reporters and photographers in his stride.  The Mayor and Mayoress of Winchester attended the reception, and Bert received over 60 greeting cards, many from Newarks previously unknown to him.  These were a real thrill for him, as were the greetings from the Queen and the Secretary of State.  He later spent a day with Lord Montague of Beaulieu, the owner and founder of the Beaulieu Museum of antique cars (Bugatti in particular).  He and Bert (formerly a chauffeur) were photographed in a Bugatti, and as a souvenir, Lord Montague gave Bert a beautiful model of one.

Longest lived NEWARK female:  Emily Grace Victoria Newark (1909-2012), 102 years 243 days.

Grace (as she was known) is the sister of Albert Ernest Victor “Bert” Newark, longest lived Newark male.  She was the youngest of eight siblings, three of whom lived to be older than 90 years of age as did their father.

Grace (who never married) was the daughter of Albert Victor Newark, a window blind maker, who lived in Brixton next door to Christ Church on Brixton Road.  Following service as a Corporal in the Imperial Yeomanry during the Anglo Boer in South Africa he became the Parish Clerk at Christ Church in addition to his blind making trade.  Grace recalled that during her childhood their home at 98 Brixton Road became a veritable church open house.   Her mother,  Gertrude Annie née Scutts,  took over as Parish Clerk  during the first World War. Gertrude’s tasks included cleaning as well as writing the Parish Registers.

Grace attended Hackford Road Girls School and later Kennington Secondary School, Hackford Road.  There she exhibited an interest in the Christian faith that was rewarded by Certificates attesting to her knowledge of scripture.  This early interest was to remain a strong foundation for her life ever afterwards.  In those early years she was also awarded medals for her good conduct, industry and attendance.  She left school at 13 years of age to work in a Missionary Society office on Fleet Street and learned shorthand and typing at evening school.  She used these skills in secretarial work all her working life until she retired at age 60 from a secretarial position with the Post Office Engineering Union.  Following retirement she put her skills to continued use in taking shorthand notes of church sermons.

Longest lived NEWRICK female:  Marjorie Elizabeth Stubbin née Newrick  (1908 - 2009), 101 years 93 days.

Marjorie was an Australian,  born in Croydon, Queensland with one sister.  Their parents were James Newrick and Wilhemine Louis née Zander.  James, the father, was a mining and railway engineer born in Crewe, Cheshire, England .  He emigrated to Australia in 1884 aboard the vessel “Sirsa”.  In 1904, Marjorie married Ronald Anderson Stubbin at Townsville, Queensland, Australia.

Most children:  Henry Newark (1794-1863) with 21 children by two wives (six by Abigail Diboll and 15 by Margaret Ashworth).

Henry Newark was a cabinetmaker born in Bradwell, Suffolk.  He operated a cabinetry and chair making business at 32 George Street, Great Yarmouth. His last child was born when Henry was 57 years old.  At least eight of his fourteen sons followed his carpentry trade and most moved from Yarmouth to London.  Joseph was a house carpenter in Acton, London; David, a Yarmouth clothes salesman; Thomas, a carpenter, Shoreditch, London; Charles, a tea box maker, Bethnal Green, London; George, a carpenter, Tottenham, London; William, a carpenter, Tottenham, London; Alfred, a cabinet maker, Great Yarmouth; Frederick, a cabinetmaker and chair maker, Shoreditch, London and James, a carpenter, Shoreditch, London.

Most multiple births:  Joseph Newark (1829-?) with triplets Alice, Emma and Eliza (born in 1872) by his wife Francis Elizabeth née Branston.

Oldest Father:  John Newark (1808-1891) who was  68 years of age when the last of his 16 children was born.

Most married:  Wallace Elmer Newark (1861-1923) with 4 wives

July 10, 1881 to Daisy Kellogg Buck

September 3, 1895 to Carrie Grace Fuller

February 25, 1900 to Irene Emily Dilks

January 26, 1903 to Ida Amelia Berg

Most Famous Actor:  Derek Newark (1933-1998)

Derek Newark was a character actor well known for his dramatic roles.  In the 1960's ,'70's and 80s' he was in a total of ten movies.  Two of the better known were The Blue Max made in 1966 starring James Mason and Ursulla Andress, and Oh What a Lovely War made in 1969 with Lawrence Olivier.  His first was the 1965 movie City under the Sea with Vincent Price, followed the same year by The Little Ones.  In 1970 came the murder mystery Fragment of Fear starring David Hemmings.  In The Offence, a 1972 movie about a London police sergeant who goes too far in questioning a suspected child molester starring Sean Connery and Trevor Howard and directed by Sidney Lumet, Derek played the character "Jessard".  The Unpleasantness at the Belladona Club was made in 1973 then the 1974 Michael Caine mystery called The Black Windmill.  Then came a Walt Disney family movie made in 1976 called Escape from the Dark  starring Alastair Sim.  His last was the 1988 movie Starlings in which a factory worker becomes a butler, moves to London where a beautiful yuppie helps to complete his transformation.

Derek also played the stage and television, acting in dramatic roles such as Dr Roote in The Hothouse, and the sinister chauffeur Gordon Halliwell in the murder mystery A Taste for Death written by Phyllis D. James and produced as a 6-part TV series in 1988 by Anglia Productions.  In 1977 he played the supporting role of Basil Delgado in Rumpole and the Heavy Brigade (part of the "Rumpole of the Bailey" series) produced by Thames Colour Production. Derek had roles in the TV series Rising Damp and Dr. Who and also played a small part in one of the Chance-in-a-million comedy series.

Most Music Awards:  Paul Frehner (1970 -  , a descendant of the “Dow” Newark branch)

The works of Paul Frehner, composer, have been performed and broadcast in Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Holland, the Czech Republic and Japan by professional soloists, ensembles and orchestras including, among others, Almeida Opera, the Esprit Orchestra, the Prague Philharmonia, the North Holland Philharmonic Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, André Ristic, the ECM and the Quasar Saxophone Quartet.

Frehner has received numerous awards and mentions at both the national and international level. Notable among these was the First Prize in the Prague Philharmonia’s Symphony of the Third Millennium Composition Competition for his orchestral work, ‘Elixirs’. It received its world premiere on January 1, 2001, by the Prague Philharmonia in the Rudolfinum and was subsequently broadcast on Czech National Radio and Television. In 2000 he won First Prize in the Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra's International Composition Competition for Overture 2000, a work for large orchestra. It was premiered January 1, 2000 in the Berlin Konzerthaus by the JMWO. In January 2003 his work Subliminal Media for chamber orchestra won the Second Prize in the 2003 Winnipeg New Music Festival’s Investor’s Group Composers Competition. This work also received a Special Recommendation in the 2003 Masterprize competition.

Largest Painting:  Gary Bevans (1953 -  , a descendant of the “Newington” Newark branch)

After 5 years of work, Gary Bevans completed painting the ceiling of the English Martyrs Church in Worthing, Sussex in 1993.  His work culminated in a reproduction of the Michelangelo masterpiece which adorns the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel.  The Right Rev. Cormac Murphy O’Connor, Roman Catholic Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, presented the artist with a medal from the Pope at a special Mass to mark the ceiling’s completion.   For more information see http://www.dabnet.org/goring3.htm

Highest honour: 

James Arnold Newrick  (1887-1968).

Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.)

James Newrick came from a Quaker background.  He was a trade unionist (British Iron, Steel and Kindred Trades' Approved Society) and about 1930 wasChairman of the Approved Societies Consultative Council.  For many years he was active in matters concerning the National Health System.  James Arnold Newrick was named a C.B.E on the King’s Birthday Honours List of June 3^rd 1932.

Francis Headon Newark (1907-1976).

Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.)

Francis Newark had an illustrious career as a lawyer and in 1960 was recognized for his public services as a legal expert on the affairs and constitution of Northern Ireland and was named a C.B.E on the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List.

Highest Military Rank:   Gordon Albert Newark (1922 - 2011)

In 1944 Gordon Newark, a career soldier, was promoted from an officer cadet to 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Army Ordnance Corp, Foresters.  By the time he retired on August 9, 1977 he had reached the rank of Brigadier in the Regular Army Commands and Staff.

Most influential and Earliest known:  Henry de Newark (? – 1299), Archbishop of York 1298-1299

Henry de Newark, Archbishop of York is believed to have been a native of Newark, Nottinghamshire, and a kinsman of William de Newark, Archdeacon of Huntingdon and Canon of Lincoln and Southwell.  Archbishop Newark's chaplain was also named William de Newark, and it is believed that the two were related to each other. The power and influence wielded by Henry is demonstrated by the numerous political offices which he held in addition to the large number of ecclesiastical livings, prebends, and court posts that he accumulated. For example, he was one of the clerks of King Edward I. In 1281 be was appointed a commissioner to settle certain disputes with the subjects of the Count of Holland. In 1283 he arranged the services due to the king from knights and others north of the Trent River. Seven years later he was appointed a joint commissioner to treat with the Scots, and in June 1291 was present at Norham when Edward held the process between the claimants of the crown of Scotland. In 1297 he was summoned to parliament and was a member of the council of the Prince of Wales.  In his official capacity, Henry also dealt with princely sums of money. He collected subsidies for the Welsh war, lent money to Archbishop Romanua, subsidized the King's coffers, bought lands and built houses. The rents which he collected were given for the endowment of chaplains at his manors.  He died August 15, 1299 and was buried in his cathedral church.

Most published books:   Timothy Newark (1961 - )  31 Books

Timothy Newark has a life-long interest in medieval military history.  His first book, An Illustrated Introduction to Medieval Warfare was published in 1979 while he was still at school.  At University College, London, he studied medieval history and the history of art.  The Barbarians and Celtic Warriors  is his most successful to date, selling all around the world in paperback, and translated into Italian.  The Land of Eternal Fire, published in 1990, is his first novel, set at the time of the fall of the Roman Empire. Besides authoring (or co-authoring) 31 books he is the editor of two more.  His latest book, Highlander  was published in 2009.

Most interesting design:   Quentin J. Newark (1961 - )  Quentin Newark, a graphic designer, was commissioned by Parliament to design an analemmatic sundial (analemmatic sundials use the shape of a person to cast the necessary shadow and the two footprints show where to stand).  The sundial was the Parliamentary Golden Jubilee gift to H.M. Queen Elizabeth II and in October 2002 was installed in Old Palace Yard, Westminster, London, opposite the Houses of Parliament.

Best Sporting achievements

Newark sixth in world. Kelly Ann Newark (1974 - )

 Kelly Newark fished sixth at the world junior duathlon championships in Dallas, Texas.  And the Little Downham triathlete, who only took up the sport this year, continued to improve at the two-discipline event.  She closed to within two minutes of top Briton Jenny Blizzard (Sheffield), who is a running specialist.  “That’s the closest we’ve been,” said 19-year old Newark, who finds running the most difficult of the three triathlon sports.  The duathlon comprised two 5 km runs either side of a 40 km cycle and Newark completed the course, which she likened to the Fens with one hill on the bike ride, in 1 hr 55 min.  “I was stronger on the second run as I’m more used to going into it off the bike.” said Newark, a swimming specialist.  “I found the first one difficult as I’m used to swimming first, not running.”  Cambridge Evening News, Wednesday, October 20, 1993, page 43.

Completing the Marathon  Michael John Newark (1939 - )

Michael Newark (runner 4669) completing the 1985 Toronto Marathon in 4 hours 15 minutes.

British Flyweight Boxing Champion  James William Newark   (1904-1981)

As a young man James Newark was interested in boxing although his short wiry stature and light weight did not give him the appearance of a boxer. He had a few points in his favor however - a powerful punch and determination. Although he was ambidextrous he fought as a southpaw, and his fists earned him the British flyweight championship.

World Cup Cycling Champion  Alan Newark   (1946 -)

The Ely Standard of May 1991 has the following account; "Veteran cyclist Alan Newark became World Cup champion when he beat such cycling luminaries as Beryl Burton and Graham Webb in Derbyshire on Saturday.  Newark, of Ely Cycling Club, was taking part in the inaugural Veterans World Cup at Matlock, which attracted a field of 300 over 35s, including the two former world champions and a string of continental stars....The legendary Burton for example once held a world record that was faster than the equivalent men's best time.  So the in-form Newark was delighted to finish second overall to win the 40-45 age group in 50 mins 35 secs, just 23 seconds behind the winner, 35 year old Dutchman Hennie Kemkers."

Updated March 6, 2013