Author: Newport, Matthew
Biography:
NEWPORT, Matthew (1789-1860: Usher)
He was born in Dublin, the son of Matthew Newport, merchant, but his date of birth and baptism and his mother’s maiden name are not known. He entered Trinity College Dublin, aged 16, in 1806 (BA 1811, MB 1814, MA, BD, DD 1819, DD 1847 [sic]). He married Catherine Harrison in Dublin in 1814. It is not known when they went to England. He was ordained deacon and priest in 1821 and was appointed curate at St. Mary the Virgin, Hawkwell, Essex, where two children were born in 1822 and 1823. (The exact number of issue is unknown; it is likely there were children born in Ireland or England before 1822 and probably after 1824 in Belize.) In 1824 he was appointed rector of St. John’s, Belize, a post he held for 35 years until his death. He had been given the living of Markfield, Leicestershire, in 1847 but was never resident. In Belize he was regarded as High Church, cool to Dissenters, and hostile to Catholics, reporting any services in private homes to the colonial authorities. He was also a freemason. He died on 22 Apr. 1860 and was buried at St. John’s. His wife, Catherine, survived him and returned to England. She died at Framlingham, Suffolk, on 1 June 1878, aged 86. Don Emanuel (1813), listed here, appears to be his only publication, although he preached at least one charity sermon for the benefit of Honduras Free School in 1826, a thanksgiving sermon for the emancipation of slaves in 1838, and coronation sermons for the Mosquito Kings of the Nicaraguan coast in 1825 and 1845. (Alumni Dublinenses [1924], 618; ancestry.co.uk 28 Mar. 2023; John Purcell Usher, Memorial Inscriptions and Epitaphs. Belize, British Honduras [1907], 21; London Gazette 14 Sept. 1860; BNP 11 June 1878; Honduras Gazette 30 Dec. 1826) AA