When I started to write this "biography", I had a certain, and I thought, a limited amount of data to work with but I'm still coming across information that I had no idea existed. and which I'm still having to research so, there will be changes to what I am writing now and more additions to come.
In the meantime, I've written what I know and, at times, this may well make the story disjointed, with gaps and simple statements of fact that would benefit from expansion and explanation. It may not be perfect but it's better than nothing!
In 1989, I went to visit an uncle of mine, my Uncle Don, and, during a long conversation, he mentioned some scrapbooks and other items that he had, and which used to belong to his father, my grandfather, John James Newport. It's difficult to say, exactly, how I felt when he showed them to me, because the feeling was, almost, indescribable but I do remember how the hairs on the back of my neck stood up!
I saw, glued to the pages, many letters, Christmas cards, sketches, newspaper cuttings, and what we would call, to-day, "flyers", advertising up-coming events such as lectures, church services, and others, but, what made my hair stand on end, was that they were all dated from 1890 to 1946!
Well, one at a time, I borrowed these books, made copious notes, transcribed everything I couldn't, somehow, photocopy - very carefully, and cautiously, I hasten to add.
It's hard, almost impossible, to put someone's life story together from notes, unless there's at least some clue as to what the note is about and some idea of date is given. My idea, however, is only partly to write what I can about John James's life, the other part being to give, for the benefit of my cousins and descendents, as much information as I can about the scrapbooks he left behind, taking into account the difficulties with a well-thumbed, worn, hundred year-old-plus scrapbook, where scanning and digital photography is far from easy.
So, I've included descriptions and images of pages though it's a mystery as to what they show and why they are in the book - I've done this because the page may mean something to someone, later.
I think my grandfather was a very clever and very intelligent man, who liked to learn and got involved in so many things - including, very deeply, religion.