The Newports and the Earl – 3 ‘John Harrison, later John Newport’

There are few primary sources located for John Harrison, the apparent illegitimate son of Henry Newport, the 3^rd Earl of Bradford to Ann Smyth. The timeline for his life is largely constructed from a surface review of court and other documents arising from the extensive decades of litigation following Henry Newport, the 3^rd Earl of Bradford’s death, as the Earl’s will and intentions were hotly contested between generations of erstwhile successors.    

 My primary purpose here is an attempt to establish timelines and evidence that exists of John Newport’s likely movements.  Others may wish to obtain and explore the originals of documents.

1721                      Calculated birth [1]

Before 1730         John Harrison under the care of Mrs Elizabeth Gardener [2]

1734 Dec 25         John’s father, Henry Newport, 3^rd Earl of Bradford died

1735                      Name change from John Harrison to John Newport  enabled by  Personal Act of Parliament [3]

1736                      Court case describing John Newport alias John Harrison as an infant,                          

This may have been the start of the declaration of John Newport as a lunatic. [4]     

1736                      John Harrison described as 14 years old (calculated birth would be 1721-1722) [5]

1738 26 Apr          Ann Smyth, of Hammersmith, Middlesex appoints John Lloyd. Meaning unclear to me [6]

1739 18 Oct,         Ann Smyth requests John Newport, be brought back from France [7]

1739                      Depositions for Smith v Earl of Bradford [8]

1742                       Lunacy has been established and also  Ann Smyths’s  (adult) guardianship of John Newport, according to court papers[9]

1742 Aug 31         Ann Smyth died 

1743                      Ann Smyth (now deceased) established as residing during dates unknown in Chelsea, Middlesex and also in Berkeley Street, St George Hanover Square, Westminster [10]

1743 Jan 18          Earl of Bath is now John Harrison’s guardian following death of Ann Smyth [11]

                                 Act for impowering committee of John Newport, a lunatic, to make lease of his estates [12]

1745 Jul 25           Describing trust of 10,000 pounds left to Mrs Ann Smyth for the maintenance of John Harrison [13]

1755 Jun 12          Estate confirmed to be transferred from John Newport to Earl of Bath if John Newport dies without heirs [14]

1767 Jan                Gen Harry Pulteney described as committee and reversioner of John Newport [15]

1783 Apr 29         John Newport died without issue, at Chelsea, Middlesex [16] , [17]

1783 May 9          John Newport buried at Westminster Abbey [16]

1783-1791            Probate interactions following intestate status at death [18]

1783-1791            Probate interactions following intestate status at death

Armed with John Newport formerly John Harrison’s death date, we are able to exclude any possibility of his fathering any of the three Newport brothers, Samuel, Joseph and Stephen, that travelled to Nelson, New Zealand. Their births postdated his well evidenced death.

Their vital records, consistent with their family group records also exclude the possibility of Samuel, the father of the three brothers and in turn his father Samuel, being some form of surrogate or imposter.     For John Harrison to have been genetically involved with the Newports of Nelson would have required a complex fraud perpetuated over 13 churches, multiple locations  and 1, 2 or 3 generations of the family, a family which throughout the relevant period was based in Buckinghamshire.   He would also have had to leave the family group to be available for his reported death in Chelsea in 1783.

However the story of John Newport, formerly John Harrison is fascinating and worthy of further investigation.

We simply don’t yet know the circumstances, date and location of his birth, where Elizabeth Gardner his carer fits in, what was the cause or extent of his disability leading to declarations of lunacy, how he eventually was able to travel to and return from France, how surgeon Alexander Small fitted in and what the actual relationship between his father Henry Newport and William Pulteney the Earl of Bath was??

18th century England was full of political and legal intrigue. I suspect the story of John has many chapters still to be written!

In my next posts I will commence analysis of some of the numerous red herrings, that I have found attached to John Newport, formerly John Harrison. As always I welcome feedback, comment and tips for further research.

References follow on page 2