Hi
I came upon this thread a couple of weeks ago and hope I can join it.
I'm another descendant of Henry Newson and Sophia Dowsett. One set of my great grandparents were Alice Catherine Newson and James Henry Butt. My descent from them is through female lines.
Over 40 years ago my mother told me that Henry Newson was born a Watts, and about 20 years ago I started trying to find him. I quickly realised that Harwich on his obituary was a red herring and the IGI led me to Felixstowe. But I was chasing an informal adoption which I could never prove.
I have also been aware of the story about his adopting the name from a dead seaman on board ship, and also another story that he took the name from a shop billboard as he walked along a street in Wellington fearful of being stopped by police. I have been a little skeptical about these.
Another family tradition was that at age 19 he came to NZ on a ship called the Lucy Ann. For years I could not find this ship, but have recently seen references to it, but without any success in tying him to it.
Colin, your reference to the Royal Navy has been a real breakthrough for me. I've chased up his C.S.N (34983) but that's about as far as I've got so far, apart from finding him (at sea) in the 1861 census. I tried to request an entry to your secure email without success, but would be very pleased to be allowed to enter if you are agreeable.
