For several generations the Newbon family made a strong contribution to life in the City of London, taking on a variety of civic duties in addition to running successful businesses. This was particularly true of the descendants of Walter Newbon’s eldest son James.

The Bakers’ Company
Given the profession of so many of their ancestors, it is not surprising that a number of members of the Newbon family became members of the Bakers’ Company. The first of the 8 members of the family to achieve their City freedom was Richard Newbon - he curiously became a member of the Musicians’ Company through redemption (i.e. by payment) in 1734, but thereafter all Newbons who became freemen were Bakers. Richard’s son William, the first husband of Ann Dixon became a freeman in 1759 by patrimony (the method of freedom available to those whose father was a freeman at the time of their birth), while Ann’s second husband Walter achieved his freedom through servitude, completing his apprenticeship in 1775. Walter’s sons Walter, James, Charles and Benjamin all became freemen through patrimony (in 1801, 1811, 1813 and 1834 respectively) and James’s sons James Shelton and John also became freemen – James Shelton Newbon in 1829 through servitude (by undergoing an apprenticeship with his father’s law firm) and John in 1864 by patrimony. James Shelton Newbon’s sons Thomas and Charles Evans became freemen through patrimony at the same time as their uncle John. Charles Evans Newbon served as a liveryman of the Bakers’ Company for a time, even becoming master of the company in 1894. His son Herbert Alexander in turn also became a member of the company through patrimony.


The Parishes of St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe and St Ann, Blackfriars
Four members of the family held parochial offices in these joint neighbouring parishes. We know from an article that appeared in the Times in 1789 that Walter Newbon was at that time one of the four church wardens of what was termed ‘the united parish of St Andrew and St Ann’. His grandson James Shelton Newbon was vestry clerk of St Ann, Blackfriars from 1840 to 1859 and James Shelton Newbon’s sons Thomas and Joseph later took on this role, between 1859 and 1866, and from 1873 respectively.


The Common Council of the City of London
Several members of the Newbon family represented the Ward of Castle Baynard on the Common Council of the City of London. The first to do so was James Newbon (the son of Walter and Ann Newbon, and father of James Shelton Newbon), who sat on the council between 1821 and 1829. His grandson Joseph Newbon was a Common Councilman between 1875 and 1878 and Joseph’s elder brother Charles Evans Newbon was for one year only from 1919 to 1920 (when he would have been 80 years of age) - Charles Evans Newbon was also one of the original members of the Castle Baynard Ward Club in 1909. Joseph and Charles’s first cousin Charles James Crickmer (the son of James Shelton Newbon’s sister Sarah Jane Crickmer) also represented the Castle Baynard Ward, from 1875 to 1880.


The United Wards’ Club of the City of London
In 1877, during the time he represented the ward of Castle Baynard on the Common council, Joseph Newbon founded The United Wards’ Club of the City of London, an organisation that survives and thrives, to this day. Several other members of the Newbon family were also members: Joseph’s younger brother Septimus Baily Newbon was also a member from the outset, for example, as was John Edward Murray (widower of their second cousin Diana Nancy Newbon).