Educated at Westminster School and then Trinity College, Cambridge, Charles Newton Robinson was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple in 1879. A very popular man, he had a large circle of friends in various walks of life, was a keen poet, and his work was regularly published. He also appreciated other arts and had a fine collection of drawings of the Old Masters. Following the Budget of 1909-10 he founded the Land Union and was chairman of the council up to his death.
Newton Robinson is better known as a skillful yachtsman, however, and was a former member of the council of the Yacht Racing Association. One of his finest achievements was in completing the 700-mile crossing of the North Sea from Swanage to Hamburg in a 10-ton yawl, which he recalled in his 1878 book, “The Cruise of the Widgeon”. Newton Robinson was also an expert swordsman and was founder of the Épée Club in London in 1900. He was originally born Charles Edmund Robinson, but assumed the additional surname of Newton, his mother’s maiden name, on 6 June 1889. He died in April 1913, just ten days after his father, Sir John Robinson.
Great Britain