Arthur Newnham

Lieutenant-colonel Arthur Tristram Herbert Newnham (17 January 1861 – 29 December 1941) was a British soldier and cricketer. Born in British India, Newnham served in the British Army and the British Indian Army, including as a military attaché to the court of Nicholas II in Moscow. He played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club between 1887 and 1894 Newnham was the oldest son of William Heurtley Newnham from Clifton in Bristol. His father was serving in the Indian Civil Service at Bombay and was later a judge at Poonah. Arthur Newnham was educated at Malvern College between 1874 and 1879 where he was a school prefect, played association football, and captained the school cricket XI.

Military service After leaving school, Newnham attended Royal Military College, Sandhurst, entering in 1880, and was commissioned in the West Yorkshire Regiment as a second lieutenant in 1881. He transferred to the Bombay Staff Corps in 1883, serving for the rest of his career in the British Indian Army, initially with the 10th Bombay Light Infantry. He served as a military attaché in Russia, qualified as an interpreter in Russian, and in 1889 transferred to the intelligence section of the Quartermaster General's Department. He was promoted to captain in 1892 and was an examiner in Russian for the Army. In 1901 he was promoted to major, and served in the Cantonment Magistrates department between 1893 and 1912. After being promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1907, he retired from the Indian Army in 1913. He played five matches for the team in each of the 1887 and 1888 seasons and appeared for the Gentlemen against the Players at The Oval in 1887 and at Lord's for the Gentlemen of England against the touring Australians the following season. He died at Newton Abbot Hospital in 1941 aged 80.

The couple's eldest son, Lance Newnham, was born in 1889. He served in World War I and was awarded the Military Cross. By 1941 he held the rank of acting colonel and was serving with the British Army Aid Group at Hong Kong. Following the fall of Hong Kong he was made a prisoner of war by the Japanese, held at Sham Shui Po Barracks. He was executed at Shek O Beach in December 1943 following his involvement in attempts to escape and posthumously awarded the George Cross. Another son, Eric, worked as a botanist.