Captain William Frederick Newberry of 4th Bn. The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) killed age 45 on 21/11/1920. He was a Courts Martial officer, and does not appear to have ben involved in Intellegence work. His death would have passed "unremarked" if it had not happened on Bloody Sunday.
Capt W F Newberry, joined the Royal Marines, then onto Sussex Regt, he retired in 1908 and moved to Canada he was a registered barrister and a expert in military law. He came back to Britain in WW1. All his service during the war was on the home front, he commanded a training depot, so there would not have been a MIC. He then went on to Dublin to do Court Martial work.
1875 born Jul/Sep 1875. St Thomas District, Devon. vol 5b p 47
1881 census aged 5, born Withycombe, Devon. Living at 12 Parade, Withycombe Rawleigh with widowed father
1891 census at school at St Peter's School, Long Causeway, Littleham. Born Exmouth
1898 Marriage Jul/Sep in Poole vol 5a, p 543 ( to Ellen Ford)
1901 census. Living with his wife Ellen at Maitland, Parkwood Rd, Pokesdown, Christchurch, Dorset. They have a 1 year old daughter, and he is studying fior the bar.
1903 Aug 29. 1st Volunteer Battalion, the Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment), William Frederick Newberry, Gent., to be Second Lieutenant. Gazette
1905 Dec 20, 1st Volunteer Battalion, The Queens (Royal West Surrey Regt); second lieutenant to be Lieutenant:—W. F. Newberry. Gazette
1907 Jan 1, 1st Volunteer Battalion, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment); Lieutenant to be Captain: W. F. Newberry. Gazette
1908 Mar 31. Gazette he resigned his commission and later moved to Canada. He was a registered barrister and a expert in military law
1911 census shows the family struggling. His wife is working for Claremont Brighton Ltd as manageress of a boarding house, and William Frederick Newberry is living with her there. He has qualifid as a barrister. They still have only 1 child.The boarding house is at 12 and 14 Cavendish Place Brighton
1913 Apr 25 Willian F Newberry age 37 years is listed on Canadian Passenger List 25th April 1913 on the Vessel:- Mongolian from Liverpool. England to Halifax, Nova Scotia. He had never been in Canada before. Religion:- C of E. Travelling to Winnipeg. Occupation:- Barrister of Law.
At the outbreat of war he returned to the UK and all his service during the war was on the home front, he commanded a training depot, so there would not have been a MIC.
1914 Oct 29. Capt (temp ) W F Newberry to be Capt , with precedence as from 29th Oct 1914 4th May 1917.Gazette
1917 Jul 9 Capt. W. F. Newberry, R.W. Surr. Regt., T.F., to be Adjt., Norf. V.R., and to remain seed.
He then apparently came to Dublin and became an educational officer with the 25th Provisional Infantry Brigade. 25 Provisional Brigade comprised of - 1 Bn Kings Own Royal Regiment, 2 Bn Worcestershire Regiment, 2 Bn Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, 1 Bn South Lancashire Regiment, 2 Bn Welch Regiment, 2 Bn Royal Berkshire Regiment, 1 Bn Cheshire Regiment, Raithdrum
1920 Jun 26. Capt. W. F. Newberry, 4th R.W. Surrey Regiment., T.F., to be an Education Officer. Gazette
The IRA group comprised about 12 men in the attack on 92 Lower Baggot Street,
Captain William Frederick Newberry, and his wife heard their front door come crashing down and blockaded themselves into their bedroom. Newberry rushed for his window to try and escape but was shot while climbing out by Bill Stapleton and Joe Leonard after they finally broke the door down. Newberry's corpse hung out of a window for several hours as the Royal Irish Constabulary waited to approach, fearing the body might have been booby-trapped.
The IRA side of it is About twelve men were admitted to 92 Lower Baggot Street at the same time. William Stapleton was among the men who asked for Captain W. F. Newbury and made their way to the first floor flat. After some hammering on the door it was opened a little. It was evident that the occupant of the room was very cautious and suspicious because he tried to close the door again, but we jammed our feet in it. We fired some shots through the door and burst our way in. The two rooms were connected by folding-doors and the British agent ran into the front room and endeavoured to barricade the door, but some of our party had broken in the door of the front room and we all went into it. He was in his pyjamas, and as he was attempting to escape by the window he was shot a number of times. One of our party on guard outside fired at him from outside. The man’s wife was standing in the corner of the room and was in a terrified and hysterical condition. The operation lasted about fifteen minutes. Stapleton’s report said really very little at all. There was plenty about doors and getting in and getting out, but no details about what happened in that room. Captain Newbury was shot seven times ; his body left hanging from the window, where as Stapleton said, he had tried to escape. His heavily pregnant wife could only cover him with a blanket.
Hansard reports. A party of raiders numbering a dozen were let in by Mrs. Slack, the tenant of the house, and asked for Captain Newbury. Captain Newbury was a Court-Martial officer who lived there with his wife. Seeing the crowd the landlady rushed upstairs in terror and saw nothing of what happened afterwards. The men knocked at Captain Newbury's door; Mrs. Newbury opened it, and seeing a crowd of men armed with revolvers slammed the door in their faces and locked it. The men burst the door open, but the Newburys escaped to an inner room. Captain Newbury and wife together tried to hold the door against them and almost succeeded in shutting it when the men fired through the door wounding Captain Newbury, who though losing blood nevertheless got to the window, flung it open, and was half-way out when the murderers burst into the room. Mrs. Newbury flung herself in their way, but they pushed her aside and fired seven shots into her husband's body. The police found the body half in and half out, covered with a blanket which Mrs. Newbury, though in a prostrate condition, had placed over it. It is reported that her resolution and her subsequent grief strongly affected the party of police who made the discovery. It is worthy of notice that the murderers in this case, as in two or three others, made diligent search for papers, hoping, perhaps, to find and abstract documents or evidence on which the military law officers were supposed to be working at the time.
Buried in a CWGC grave at St Pancras Cemetery. Son of the late W. C. and Myra Newberry, of Exmouth; husband of the late E. J.Newberry.