William Newton

Sir William Newton (March 14 1842 - June 15 1915) was a Mauritian lawyer and politician who was elected in British Mauritius to the Council of the Government of Mauritius, the predecessor of modern-day National Assembly or Parliament.

Early life William Newton was born in British Mauritius on 14 March 1842. Newton belonged to the Mulatto or Gens de couleur community, also known nowadays as Population Générale given that his mother was Indo Mauritian and his father had migrated from Scotland. He grew up on the island of Mauritius and completed his secondary education at the Royal College Curepipe where he was a "Laureate". He was thus granted a British scholarship for further studies, and he travelled to England where he studied law.

Legal career William Newton practiced as a barrister in Mauritius. In 1882 he was appointed as Legal Counsel of the Chamber of Agriculture of Mauritius. In 1891 he was appointed to the Queen's Council. There was strong opposition to changes by the conservative Anti-Reformists led by Sir Célicourt Antelme, as well as the Democrats party, led by Gustave de Coriolis and Onésipho Beaugeard. Newton argued against Anti-Reformist Antelme’s recurrent argument of "The Asiatic spectre” and "Indian Peril", explaining that the rising influence of the Indo-Mauritian mass would not be curtailed by outdated legislation, and that instead the Constitution had to be modified to suit modern society's needs.

In 1884 William Newton became a Nominated Member of the Council of the Government of Mauritius, which allowed him to play an active role in reforming the political system via a new Constitution. On 20 October 1885 the new Constitution enabled the introduction of elected members in the local legislature. The new system restricted the right to vote to only men who owned immovable property of an annual value of ₨ 300, or owned movable property worth more than ₨ 3000, or was husband of a wife or the eldest son of a widow possessing such qualifications, or earned a monthly salary of ₨ 50. Out of the island's 360,000 citizens only 4000 men had the right to vote. In protest William Newton's Reform Party raised a petition which was signed by 6,800 citizens. William Newton was also chosen as Pope Hennessy's defence attorney in London where he successfully defended the Governor who was reinstated on 12 July 1886. Pope Hennessy remained in office until 11 December 1889.

Sir William Newton was described as the greatest Coloured man in Mauritius thanks to his campaign for representative government and revised Constitution which enabled greater participation of the Gens de Couleur (Creoles) in political life following the 1886 General Elections.

In the city of Port Louis a street which connects Sir Robert Townsend Farquhar Street to Dauphine Street is named after him. Sir William Newton's statue has also been erected in front of the Government House in Place D'Armes, and next to Sir John Pope Hennessy's statue.