My grandfather, John James Newport, was born on 31st July, 1867 – just two years after the end of the American Civil war (1861–1865), a fact that still amazes me as I met and knew my grandfather – not well because we were living in London, he in Hooe, and the war was on, so travel was limited; but I did meet him on several occasions, when we managed to get away for a short break.
At the time I knew him he was in his seventies but very active; he was still working on his allotment, and, as on the day of his fatal accident, would, regularly, cycle around the area collecting money for his beloved Hooe and Ninfield Hospital Benevolent Fund. Being a very strong Christian, he was, always, working for the good and the benefit of the village and the local people.
I said he was a strong Christian and he was; a strong, true, and devout believer in Jesus Christ and was devoted to the Church of England, as was clear from his many letters, to the newspapers, concerning the Catholic Church, its religion, and the Pope! I never did quite understand why he was so much against Catholicism but there is no doubt that he was.
Where his strong belief came from, I have no, real, idea, except that remarks made by his father, in a few pieces of correspondence that have survived, strongly indicate that his parents were just as highly religious.
From someone who knew him far better than I, Mr J. Berthon Sparke, J.P , Chairman of the Ninfield Parish Council at the time of his fatal accident, came the following tribute: -
"First, and above all, he was a Christian, and it was from his love of his Master that he drew strength and was enabled to play his full share in the promotion of the welfare of those with whom he came in contact. The rest all seemed to follow; he was a great worker, conscientious, loyal, and thorough, so whatever he turned his hand to was well done. Few who came into intercourse with him could have failed to draw strength from his own love and strength, for he was a man who was entirely lovable; he was, too, a man with many interests. As expert pruner of fruit trees and grower of vegetables, his agricultural bent was denoted, and, on the other hand, he had some considerable literary leanings and talents
"He leaves behind, I believe, much data which he had collected for an historical survey of the village of Hooe, and which I had the pleasure of reading some years ago. John Newport lies with his father and mother at Hampstead, but surely, his spirit will march with us as we grapple in these hard days with the problems which two world wars have left us. He has passed from us full of years and noble work accomplished, and I know of no man of whom it would be more truly written that "the trumpets sounded for him on the other side".
I have cousins who remember him far better than I, and they may well disagree with what I am about to say, but I remember him as a rather imposing, but not quite frightening, grey haired old man with a small grey moustache, who stood perfectly upright, no stooping, having a slight smile and, to me, anyway, having "twinkling eyes"; a man who wore, a trilby and, or so I, always, thought, "plus-fours", only to be told, much later in life, by my, almost, hysterically laughing Uncle Don, that they were not "plus-fours" but were, in fact, what they, as children, always called "plus-twos" – because they were nothing more than his trouser bottoms tucked into his socks! I can’t say for certain either way, I was too young, but, whatever they were, they impressed me, as a child.
My mother, often, similarly, referred to him as a "gentle man with twinkling eyes", while my father only remarked about the cane his father kept above the door! Whether this was because my father had felt the sting of that cane or not, he didn’t say.
I remember, when we lived in London, my father finding a piece of paper attached, somehow, to our front door; it was a note hrom grandfather saying that he had come up from Hooe to pay us a visit but, finding us out, had, instead, pruned the blackcurrants and returned home! Try doing that on today’s railways and not having to take out a mortgage!