Zachary99B at 06:13, 20 April 2026

2026-04-20T06:13:41Z

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{{short description|British soldier and cricketer (1861–1941)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2025}}
{{Infobox cricketer
| name = Arthur Newnham
| image =
| country =
| fullname = Arthur Tristram Herbert Newnham
| birth_date = {{birth date|1861|1|17|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Dharwad|Dharwar]], Bombay Presidency, British India
| death_date = {{death date and age|1941|12|29|1861|1|17|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Wolborough]], Devon, England
| family = [[Lance Newnham]] (son)
| batting = Right-handed
| bowling = Right-arm fast
| role = Bowler

| club1 = [[Gloucestershire County Cricket Club|Gloucestershire]]
| year1 = 1887–1894
| club2 = [[Europeans cricket team|Europeans]]
| year2 = {{nowrap|1892/93–1898/99}}
| club3 = [[Bombay cricket team|Bombay]]
| year3 = 1892/93
| columns = 1
| column1 = [[First-class cricket|First-class]]
| matches1 = 23
| runs1 = 337
| bat avg1 = 10.53
| 100s/50s1 = 0/1
| top score1 = 56
| deliveries1 = 2,229
| wickets1 = 60
| bowl avg1 = 19.25
| fivefor1 = 4
| tenfor1 = 0
| best bowling1 = 6/64
| catches/stumpings1 = 11/–
| date = 30 March
| year = 2014
| source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/18055.html CricInfo
}}

[[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|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<ref name=ci/> and was considered a notable cricketer whilst serving in India.

==Early life==
Born at [[Dharwad|Dharwar]] in [[British India]] in 1861,<ref name=ci>[http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/18055.html Arthur Newnham], [[CricInfo]]. Retrieved 18 June 2025.</ref> Newnham was the oldest son of William Heurtley Newnham from [[Clifton, Bristol|Clifton]] in [[Bristol]]. His father was serving in the [[Indian Civil Service]] at [[Bombay]] and was later a judge at [[Poonah]].<ref name=mc05>Cookson RTC (1905) ''The Malvern Register 1865–1904'', second edition, p. 81. ([https://archive.org/details/malvernregister00malgoog/page/80/mode/2up Available online] at [[The Internet Archive]]. Retrieved 18 June 2025.)</ref><ref name=aim>Marriages, ''Allen's Indian Mail'', 19 March 1888. ([https://fibis.ourarchives.online/bin/aps_detail.php?id=1846413 Transcribed] at Families in British India Society. Retrieved 18 June 2025.)</ref><ref name=toi>Marriages, ''[[The Times of India]]'', 3 April 1888. ([https://fibis.ourarchives.online/bin/aps_detail.php?id=743797 Transcribed] at Families in British India Society. Retrieved 18 June 2025.)</ref><ref>[[Joseph Foster (genealogist)|Foster J]] (1891) ''[[Alumni Oxonienses]]'', later series, vol III, p. 1017. ([https://archive.org/details/AlumniOxoniensesTheMembersOfTheUniversityOfOxford1715-1886Their/page/n241/mode/2up Available online] at [[The Internet Archive]]. Retrieved 18 June 2025.)</ref> 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.{{efn|Two of Newnham's brothers were also educated at Malvern. Charles (born 1863) worked as a solicitor and was wounded during [[World War I]] whilst serving with the [[North Lancashire Regiment]]. He died in 1935.<ref>Tassell DSM (1934) ''The Malvern College Register'', first supplement 1934, p. 10. ([https://www.malverniansocietyarchives.co.uk/authenticated/Browse.aspx?BrowseID=1388&tableName=ta_publication Available online] at the [[Malvernian Society]]. Retrieved 18 June 2025.)</ref> Percival (born 1870) served in the British and British Indian armies. He died at the [[Battle of Spion Kop]] in 1900 during the [[Second Boer War]] after volunteering to serve with [[Alexander Thorneycroft|Thorneycroft's Mounted Rifles]].<ref>Cookson, ''[[op. cit]]'', p. 201.</ref>}}<ref name=mc49>Roberts FW ed. (1949) ''The Malvern College Register'', second supplement 1949, p. 10. ([https://www.malverniansocietyarchives.co.uk/authenticated/Browse.aspx?BrowseID=1388&tableName=ta_publication Available online] at the [[Malvernian Society]]. Retrieved 18 June 2025.)</ref><ref name=wis>Obituaries in 1941, ''[[Wisden Cricketers' Almanack]]'', 1942. ([https://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/229835.html Available online] at [[CricInfo]]. Retrieved 18 June 2025.)</ref>

==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]].<ref name=mc49/><ref name=hart675>''[[Hart's Army List]]'', 1913, p. 675.</ref> He served as a [[military attaché]] in Russia,<ref name=gc>[https://victoriacrossonline.co.uk/lanceray-arthur-newnham-gc-mc-direct-recipient/ Lanceray Arthur Newnham GC MC (Direct Recipient)], Victoria Cross Online. Retrieved 18 June 2025.</ref> 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 (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] in 1892 and was an examiner in Russian for the Army. In 1901 he was promoted to [[Major (United Kingdom)|major]], and served in the Cantonment Magistrates department between 1893 and 1912. After being promoted to [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant-colonel]] in 1907, he retired from the Indian Army in 1913.<ref name=mc49/><ref name=hart675/>

==Cricket==
As a cricketer, Newnham was considered by ''[[Wisden]]'' to be a player who "would have made a big name in English cricket" if he had not been serving overseas.<ref name=wis/> He played primarily as a fast bowler and took 60 wickets in 23 first-class matches including four [[five-wicket haul]]s. He made his [[first-class cricket]] debut for [[Gloucestershire County Cricket Club|Gloucestershire]] in 1887, taking three wickets on debut against [[Kent County Cricket Club|Kent]] at [[Rectory Field|Blackheath]].<ref name=ca>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/14/14211/14211.html Arthur Newnham], CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 June 2025. {{subscription}}</ref> He played five matches for the team in each of the 1887 and 1888 seasons and appeared for the [[Gentlemen v Players|Gentlemen against the Players]] at [[The Oval]] in 1887 and at [[Lord's]] for the Gentlemen of England against the [[Australian cricket team in England in 1888|touring Australians]] the following season.<ref name=wis/><ref name=ca/>

While he was in India, Newnham played regularly for [[Bombay Gymkhana]] and for services teams. ''Wisden'' considered that "for many years he was prominent in cricket abroad", and he played matches which are considered first-class for [[Europeans cricket team|Europeans]] in the [[Bombay Tournament (cricket)|Bombay Presidency tournament]] and for [[Bombay cricket team|Bombay]] against a [[Lord Hawke's cricket team in Ceylon and India in 1892–93|touring team led by Lord Hawke]]. He made six further first-class appearances for Gloucestershire 1894 whilst in Britain.<ref name=wis/><ref name=ca/>

==Family==
Newnham married Ekaterina Federovna Yonova at [[St. Andrew's Anglican Church, Moscow|St. Andrew's Anglican Church]] in Moscow in March 1888.{{efn|The couple were also married in a Russian church.<ref name=toi/>}} The couple had met whilst he was serving as military attaché to the court of [[Nicholas II]] in Russia.<ref name=aim/><ref name=toi/><ref name=gc/><ref name=vcgc>[https://vcgca.org/our-people/profile/153/Lanceray-Arthur--NEWNHAM Lanceray Arthur Newnham], The VC and GC Association. Retrieved 18 June 2025.</ref> He died at [[Old Newton Abbot Hospital|Newton Abbot Hospital]] in 1941 aged 80.<ref name=wis/><ref>Sporting notes, ''[[Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer]]'', 3 January 1942, p. 7.</ref>

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 (United Kingdom)|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]].<ref name=gc/><ref name=vcgc/> Another son, Eric, worked as a botanist.<ref name=gc/>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Newnham, Arthur}}
[[Category:1861 births]]
[[Category:1941 deaths]]
[[Category:English cricketers]]
[[Category:Gloucestershire cricketers]]
[[Category:People from Dharwad]]
[[Category:Europeans cricketers]]
[[Category:Mumbai cricketers]]
[[Category:Gentlemen cricketers]]
[[Category:Gentlemen of England cricketers]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:19th-century English sportsmen]]

Arthur Newnham - Revision history

Zachary99B at 06:13, 20 April 2026