Outline his Life:

Eldest son of Walter Newman of the Royal Artillery, Edwin was named after his grandfather (Edwin the lawyer) and his mother Emma Montague Browne (names that continued in the family for one or more generations). He was the first of the Newman's to be educated at Wellington College where he was a bright student, winning the Modern Exhibition prize in 1879, his last year at the school (see half way down left side, photo left).

From there he went to the Royal Military Academies at Woolwich and Chatham to join the Royal Engineers on 26th July 1881. His career and his life were tragically cut short on 22nd March 1885 at the age of 24, when he was killed at the battle of McNeill's Zariba at Tofrik in the Sudan, serving as a sapper subaltern with the Field Company Queen's Own Sappers and Miners (later became the 14th Fld Coy QVO Madras Sappers and Miners). A graphic account of the battle, and of his death, is recorded on pages 300 to 306 of "The Indian Sappers and Miners" by Lieut.-Colonel E.W.C. Sandes D.S.O., M.C., R.E. (Ret.) published by The Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, 1948, now in my possession.

A very similar account of Edwin Newman's death can be found in a short biograhy of Corporal George Andrews of the Royal Engineers, the full text of which is to be found at 15744 Corporal George Andrews, Royal Engineers.htm.

It should be possible to find more information about Edwin through school records from Wellington, and (perhaps) army records or museums.

An excellent account of the Mahdi Wars of which the Battle of Tofrek formed part, can be found in "Armies of God - Islam and the Empire" by Dominic Green. A detailed account of the battle itself is given in "Battle of Tofrek, Fought Near Suakin, March 22nd 1885" by William Galloway, being a reprinting of an account published in England in the late 19th century.