Newman was born in the Partick area of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1858. His father, also called Edward Newman, was a surgeon in the Royal Navy and his mother was Annabella Newman (née Smith). He emigrated to New Zealand around 1875, and worked on sheep farms, until he took up his own property in the Turakina Valley in 1882. He returned to Glasgow to marry Catherine Ann Wilson in 1886. The couple had two children, one of whom died in infancy.[1]
Newman played an active role in establishing Flock House. He wanted the farmers of New Zealand to acknowledge the efforts of the British seamen who kept the sea lanes open during World War I. He established a fund so that the sons of British seamen who had been killed or wounded could be trained in New Zealand to start a new life, in conjunction with the Sheepfarmers' Association of New Zealand.
A property was purchased in 1924, and Flock House remained an agricultural training facility until 1988.[6]
