painter, sketcher and public servant, came to Hobart Town in August 1827 on board the Persian with his parents and their two other children. In May 1833 Richard Newman senior was appointed chief constable at Port Arthur; Richard William, the eldest son, became commandant’s clerk in June. He remained at Port Arthur until November 1837, then was transferred to Oatlands as deputy clerk of peace. In August 1839, because of 'the circumstance of my Friends residing at Port Arthur’, he was allowed to resume his former position since it was vacant. However, a request for a salary increase in July 1842 was refused despite the support of his commandant and an outline of his arduous duties. In September 1845 Newman asked to be transferred to a position in Hobart Town, giving as his reason the bad health he experienced at Port Arthur. This was also refused, on the grounds that there were no vacancies, and the following month Newman was dismissed after absenting himself from the settlement with the storekeeper. The latter’s behaviour had otherwise been good but 'it is by no means so with Mr Newman [whose] conduct on this occasion [was] particularly inexcusable’.
He died of consumption in Hobart Town on 23 July 1846, aged 32, and was buried two days later in St David’s Cemetery, Hobart Town, as 'Frederick’ Newman. Less than a fortnight after his death one of his paintings was raffled at the Boar’s Head Hotel in Collins Street, Hobart Town, where his father had recently been landlord. In view of 'the peculiar circumstances of the painting being an effort of an artist so recently deceased’ and the good feeling entertained for the father it was hoped that the raffle would be a success, but the painting itself was not described. His only known extant works are two crayon drawings dating from about 1840, Point Puer from the Commandant’s Garden at Port Arthur and 'East Bay Neck’ [now Dunalley] from Forestiers Peninsula (Crowther Library).
- Writers:
- Glover, Margaret
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
