APPENDIX.
In the year 1705, Sir Isaac gave into the Herald’s Office an elaborate pedigree, stating upon oaththat he had reason to believethat John Newton of Westby, in the county of Lincoln, was his great-grandfather’s father, and that this was the same John Newton who was buried in Basingthorpe church, on the 22d December, 1563. This John Newton had four sons, John, Thomas, Richard, and William Newton of Gunnerly, the last of whom was great-grandfather to Sir John Newton, Bart., of Hather. Sir Isaac considered himself as descended from the eldest of these,he having, by tradition from his kindred ever since he can remember, reckoned himself next of kin (among the Newtons) to Sir John Newton’s family.
The pedigree, founded upon these and other considerations, was accompanied by a certificate from Sir John Newton, of Thorpe, Bart., who states that he had heard his father speak of Sir Isaac Newtonas of his relation and kinsman, and thathe himself believed that Sir Isaac was descended from John Newton, son to John Newton of Westby, but knoweth not in what particular manner.
The pedigree of Sir Isaac, as entered at the Herald’s Office, does not seem to have been satisfactory either to himself or to his successors, as it could notbe traced with certainty beyond his grandfather; and it will be seen from the following interesting correspondence, that upon making further researches, he had found some reason to believe that he was of Scotch extraction.
“I send you on the other page an anecdote respecting Sir Isaac Newton, which I do not remember whether I ever happened to mention to you in conversation. If his descent be not clearly ascertained (as I think it is not in the books I have seen), might it not be worth while to inquire if evidence can be found to confirm the account which he is said to have given of himself. Sheriff Cross was very zealous about it when death put a stop to his inquiries.“When I lived in old Aberdeen above twenty years ago, I happened to be conversing over a pipe of tobacco with a gentleman of that country, who had been lately at Edinburgh. He told me that he had been often in company with Mr. Hepburn of Keith, with whom I had the honour of some acquaintance. He said that, speaking of Sir Isaac Newton, Mr. Hepburn mentioned an anecdote, which he had from Mr. James Gregory, professor of mathematics at Edinburgh, which was to this purpose:“Mr. Gregory, being at London for some time after he resigned the mathematical chair, was often with Sir Isaac Newton. One day Sir Isaac said to him, ‘Gregory, I believe you don’t know that I am connected with Scotland.’—‘Pray how, Sir Isaac?’ said Gregory. Sir Isaac said he was told that his grandfather was a gentleman of East Lothian; that he came to London with King James at his accession to the crown of England, and there spent hisfortune, as many more did at that time, by which his son (Sir Isaac’s father) was reduced to mean circumstances. To this Gregory bluntly replied, ‘Newton a gentleman of East Lothian, I never heard of a gentleman of East Lothian of that name.’ Upon this Sir Isaac said, ‘that being very young when his father died, he had it only by tradition, and it might be a mistake;’ and immediately turned the conversation to another subject.“I confess I suspected that the gentleman who was my author had given some colouring to this story, and therefore I never mentioned it for a good many years.“After I removed to Glasgow, I came to be very intimately acquainted with Mr. Cross, then sheriff of Lanark, and one day at his own house mentioned this story, without naming my author, of whom I expressed some diffidence.“The sheriff immediately took it up as a matter worth being inquired into. He said he was well acquainted with Mr. Hepburn of Keith (who was then alive), and that he would write him to know whether he ever heard Mr. Gregory say that he had such a conversation with Sir Isaac Newton. He said he knew that Mr. Keith, the ambassador, was also intimate with Mr. Gregory, and that he would write him to the same purpose.“Some time after, Mr. Cross told me that he had answers from both the gentlemen above mentioned, and that both remembered to have heard Mr. Gregory mention the conversation between him and Sir Isaac Newton, to the purpose above narrated, and at the same time acknowledged that they had made no further inquiry about the matter.“Mr. Cross, however, continued the inquiry, and a short time before his death told me that all he had learned was, that there is, or was lately, a baronet’s family of the name of Newton in West Lothian or Mid Lothian (I have forgot which): that there isa tradition in that family that Sir Isaac Newton wrote a letter to the old knight that then was (I think Sir John Newton of Newton was his name), desiring to know what children, and particularly what sons he had, their age, and what professions they intended: that the old baronet never deigned to return an answer to this letter, which his family was sorry for, as they thought Sir Isaac might have intended to do something for them.”
“I send you on the other page an anecdote respecting Sir Isaac Newton, which I do not remember whether I ever happened to mention to you in conversation. If his descent be not clearly ascertained (as I think it is not in the books I have seen), might it not be worth while to inquire if evidence can be found to confirm the account which he is said to have given of himself. Sheriff Cross was very zealous about it when death put a stop to his inquiries.
“When I lived in old Aberdeen above twenty years ago, I happened to be conversing over a pipe of tobacco with a gentleman of that country, who had been lately at Edinburgh. He told me that he had been often in company with Mr. Hepburn of Keith, with whom I had the honour of some acquaintance. He said that, speaking of Sir Isaac Newton, Mr. Hepburn mentioned an anecdote, which he had from Mr. James Gregory, professor of mathematics at Edinburgh, which was to this purpose:
“Mr. Gregory, being at London for some time after he resigned the mathematical chair, was often with Sir Isaac Newton. One day Sir Isaac said to him, ‘Gregory, I believe you don’t know that I am connected with Scotland.’—‘Pray how, Sir Isaac?’ said Gregory. Sir Isaac said he was told that his grandfather was a gentleman of East Lothian; that he came to London with King James at his accession to the crown of England, and there spent hisfortune, as many more did at that time, by which his son (Sir Isaac’s father) was reduced to mean circumstances. To this Gregory bluntly replied, ‘Newton a gentleman of East Lothian, I never heard of a gentleman of East Lothian of that name.’ Upon this Sir Isaac said, ‘that being very young when his father died, he had it only by tradition, and it might be a mistake;’ and immediately turned the conversation to another subject.
“I confess I suspected that the gentleman who was my author had given some colouring to this story, and therefore I never mentioned it for a good many years.
“After I removed to Glasgow, I came to be very intimately acquainted with Mr. Cross, then sheriff of Lanark, and one day at his own house mentioned this story, without naming my author, of whom I expressed some diffidence.
“The sheriff immediately took it up as a matter worth being inquired into. He said he was well acquainted with Mr. Hepburn of Keith (who was then alive), and that he would write him to know whether he ever heard Mr. Gregory say that he had such a conversation with Sir Isaac Newton. He said he knew that Mr. Keith, the ambassador, was also intimate with Mr. Gregory, and that he would write him to the same purpose.
“Some time after, Mr. Cross told me that he had answers from both the gentlemen above mentioned, and that both remembered to have heard Mr. Gregory mention the conversation between him and Sir Isaac Newton, to the purpose above narrated, and at the same time acknowledged that they had made no further inquiry about the matter.
“Mr. Cross, however, continued the inquiry, and a short time before his death told me that all he had learned was, that there is, or was lately, a baronet’s family of the name of Newton in West Lothian or Mid Lothian (I have forgot which): that there isa tradition in that family that Sir Isaac Newton wrote a letter to the old knight that then was (I think Sir John Newton of Newton was his name), desiring to know what children, and particularly what sons he had, their age, and what professions they intended: that the old baronet never deigned to return an answer to this letter, which his family was sorry for, as they thought Sir Isaac might have intended to do something for them.”
Several years after this letter was written, a Mr. Barron, a relation of Sir Isaac Newton, seems to have been making inquiries respecting the family of his ancestor, and in consequence of this the late Professor Robison applied to Dr. Reid, to obtain from him a more particular account of the remarkable conversation between Sir Isaac and Mr. James Gregory referred to in the preceding letter. In answer to this request, Dr. Reid wrote the following letter, for which I was indebted to John Robison, Esq. Sec. R. S. E., who found it among his father’s manuscripts.
“Dear Sir,“I am very glad to learn by yours of April 4, that a Mr. Barron, a near relation of Sir Isaac Newton, is anxious to inquire into the descent of that great man, as the family cannot trace it farther, with any certainty, than his grandfather. I therefore, as you desire, send you a precise account of all I know; and am glad to have this opportunity, before I die, of putting this information in hands that will make the proper use of it, if it shall be found of any use.“Several years before I left Aberdeen (which I did in 1764), Mr. Douglas of Feckel, the father of Sylvester Douglas, now a barrister at London, toldme, that having been lately at Edinburgh, he was often in company with Mr. Hepburn of Keith, a gentleman of whom I had some acquaintance, by his lodging a night at my house at New Machar, when he was in the rebel army in 1745. That Mr. Hepburn told him that he had heard Mr. James Gregory, professor of mathematics, Edinburgh, say, that being one day in familiar conversation with Sir Isaac Newton at London, Sir Isaac said, ‘Gregory, I believe you don’t know that I am a Scotchman.’—‘Pray, how is that?’ said Gregory. Sir Isaac said he was informed that his grandfather (or great-grandfather) was a gentleman of East (or West) Lothian: that he went to London with King James the I. at his accession to the crown of England: and that he attended the court in expectation, as many others did, until he spent his fortune, by which means his family was reduced to low circumstances. At the time this was told me Mr. Gregory was dead, otherwise I should have had his own testimony, for he was my mother’s brother. I likewise thought at that time that it had been certainly known that Sir Isaac had been descended from an old English family, as I think is said in hiselogebefore the Academy of Sciences at Paris, and therefore I never mentioned what I had heard for many years, believing that there must be some mistake in it.“Some years after I came to Glasgow, I mentioned (I believe for the first time) what I had heard to have been said by Mr. Hepburn to Mr. Cross, late sheriff of this county, whom you will remember. Mr. Cross was moved by this account, and immediately said, ‘I know Mr. Hepburn very well, and I know he was intimate with Mr. Gregory: I shall write him this same night, to know whether he heard Mr. Gregory say so or not.’ After some reflection, he added, ‘I know that Mr. Keith, the ambassador, was also an intimate acquaintance of Mr. Gregory, and as he is at present in Edinburgh, I shall likewise write to him this night.’“The next time I waited on Mr. Cross he told me that he had wrote both to Mr. Hepburn and Mr. Keith, and had an answer from both, and that both of them testified that they had several times heard Mr. James Gregory say, that Sir Isaac Newton told him what is above expressed, but that neither they nor Mr. Gregory, as far as they knew, ever made any further inquiry into the matter. This appeared very strange both to Mr. Cross and me, and he said he would reproach them for their indifference, and would make inquiry as soon as he was able.“He lived but a short time after this, and in the last conversation I had with him upon the subject, he said, that all he had yet learned was, that there was a Sir John Newton of Newton in one of the counties of Lothian (but I have forgot which), some of whose children were yet alive: that they reported that their father, Sir John, had a letter from Sir Isaac Newton, desiring to know the state of his family, what children he had, particularly what sons, and in what way they were. The old knight never returned an answer to this letter, thinking probably that Sir Isaac was some upstart, who wanted to claim a relation to his worshipful house. This omission the children regretted, conceiving that Sir Isaac might have had a view of doing something for their benefit.“After this I mentioned occasionally in conversation what I knew, hoping that these facts might lead to some more certain discovery, but I found more coldness about the matter than I thought it deserved. I wrote an account of it to Dr. Gregory, your colleague, that he might impart it to any member of the Antiquarian Society who he judged might have the curiosity to trace the matter further.“In the year 1787, my colleague, Mr. Patrick Wilson, professor of astronomy, having been in London, told me on his return that he had met accidentally with a James Hutton, Esq. of Pimlico,Westminster, a near relation of Sir Isaac Newton,137to whom he mentioned what he had heard from me with respect to Sir Isaac’s descent, and that I wished much to know something more decisive on that subject. Mr. Hutton said, if I pleased to write to him he would give me all the information he could give. I wrote him accordingly, and had a very polite answer, dated at Bath, 25th December, 1787, which is now before me. He says, ‘I shall be glad when I return to London, if I can find in some old notes of my mother any thing that may fix the certainty of Sir Isaac’s descent. If he spoke so to Mr. James Gregory, it is most certain he spoke truth. But Sir Isaac’s grandfather, not his great-grandfather, must be the person who came from Scotland with King James I. If I find any thing to the purpose, I will take care it shall reach you.’“In consequence of this letter I expected another from Mr. Hutton when he should return to London, but have never had any. Mr. Wilson told me he was a very old man, and whether he be dead or alive I know not.“This is all I know of the matter, and for the facts above mentioned I pledge my veracity. I am much obliged to you, dear sir, for the kind expressions of your affection and esteem, which, I assure you, are mutual on my part, and I sincerely sympathize with you on your afflicting state of health, which makes you consider yourself as out of the world, and despair of seeing me any more.“I have been long out of the world by deafness and extreme old age. I hope, however, if we should not meet again in this world, that we shall meet and renew our acquaintance in another. In the mean time, I am with great esteem, dear sir, yours affectionately,“Tho. Reid.“Glasgow College,”12th April, 1792.”
“Dear Sir,
“I am very glad to learn by yours of April 4, that a Mr. Barron, a near relation of Sir Isaac Newton, is anxious to inquire into the descent of that great man, as the family cannot trace it farther, with any certainty, than his grandfather. I therefore, as you desire, send you a precise account of all I know; and am glad to have this opportunity, before I die, of putting this information in hands that will make the proper use of it, if it shall be found of any use.
“Several years before I left Aberdeen (which I did in 1764), Mr. Douglas of Feckel, the father of Sylvester Douglas, now a barrister at London, toldme, that having been lately at Edinburgh, he was often in company with Mr. Hepburn of Keith, a gentleman of whom I had some acquaintance, by his lodging a night at my house at New Machar, when he was in the rebel army in 1745. That Mr. Hepburn told him that he had heard Mr. James Gregory, professor of mathematics, Edinburgh, say, that being one day in familiar conversation with Sir Isaac Newton at London, Sir Isaac said, ‘Gregory, I believe you don’t know that I am a Scotchman.’—‘Pray, how is that?’ said Gregory. Sir Isaac said he was informed that his grandfather (or great-grandfather) was a gentleman of East (or West) Lothian: that he went to London with King James the I. at his accession to the crown of England: and that he attended the court in expectation, as many others did, until he spent his fortune, by which means his family was reduced to low circumstances. At the time this was told me Mr. Gregory was dead, otherwise I should have had his own testimony, for he was my mother’s brother. I likewise thought at that time that it had been certainly known that Sir Isaac had been descended from an old English family, as I think is said in hiselogebefore the Academy of Sciences at Paris, and therefore I never mentioned what I had heard for many years, believing that there must be some mistake in it.
“Some years after I came to Glasgow, I mentioned (I believe for the first time) what I had heard to have been said by Mr. Hepburn to Mr. Cross, late sheriff of this county, whom you will remember. Mr. Cross was moved by this account, and immediately said, ‘I know Mr. Hepburn very well, and I know he was intimate with Mr. Gregory: I shall write him this same night, to know whether he heard Mr. Gregory say so or not.’ After some reflection, he added, ‘I know that Mr. Keith, the ambassador, was also an intimate acquaintance of Mr. Gregory, and as he is at present in Edinburgh, I shall likewise write to him this night.’
“The next time I waited on Mr. Cross he told me that he had wrote both to Mr. Hepburn and Mr. Keith, and had an answer from both, and that both of them testified that they had several times heard Mr. James Gregory say, that Sir Isaac Newton told him what is above expressed, but that neither they nor Mr. Gregory, as far as they knew, ever made any further inquiry into the matter. This appeared very strange both to Mr. Cross and me, and he said he would reproach them for their indifference, and would make inquiry as soon as he was able.
“He lived but a short time after this, and in the last conversation I had with him upon the subject, he said, that all he had yet learned was, that there was a Sir John Newton of Newton in one of the counties of Lothian (but I have forgot which), some of whose children were yet alive: that they reported that their father, Sir John, had a letter from Sir Isaac Newton, desiring to know the state of his family, what children he had, particularly what sons, and in what way they were. The old knight never returned an answer to this letter, thinking probably that Sir Isaac was some upstart, who wanted to claim a relation to his worshipful house. This omission the children regretted, conceiving that Sir Isaac might have had a view of doing something for their benefit.
“After this I mentioned occasionally in conversation what I knew, hoping that these facts might lead to some more certain discovery, but I found more coldness about the matter than I thought it deserved. I wrote an account of it to Dr. Gregory, your colleague, that he might impart it to any member of the Antiquarian Society who he judged might have the curiosity to trace the matter further.
“In the year 1787, my colleague, Mr. Patrick Wilson, professor of astronomy, having been in London, told me on his return that he had met accidentally with a James Hutton, Esq. of Pimlico,Westminster, a near relation of Sir Isaac Newton,137to whom he mentioned what he had heard from me with respect to Sir Isaac’s descent, and that I wished much to know something more decisive on that subject. Mr. Hutton said, if I pleased to write to him he would give me all the information he could give. I wrote him accordingly, and had a very polite answer, dated at Bath, 25th December, 1787, which is now before me. He says, ‘I shall be glad when I return to London, if I can find in some old notes of my mother any thing that may fix the certainty of Sir Isaac’s descent. If he spoke so to Mr. James Gregory, it is most certain he spoke truth. But Sir Isaac’s grandfather, not his great-grandfather, must be the person who came from Scotland with King James I. If I find any thing to the purpose, I will take care it shall reach you.’
“In consequence of this letter I expected another from Mr. Hutton when he should return to London, but have never had any. Mr. Wilson told me he was a very old man, and whether he be dead or alive I know not.
“This is all I know of the matter, and for the facts above mentioned I pledge my veracity. I am much obliged to you, dear sir, for the kind expressions of your affection and esteem, which, I assure you, are mutual on my part, and I sincerely sympathize with you on your afflicting state of health, which makes you consider yourself as out of the world, and despair of seeing me any more.
“I have been long out of the world by deafness and extreme old age. I hope, however, if we should not meet again in this world, that we shall meet and renew our acquaintance in another. In the mean time, I am with great esteem, dear sir, yours affectionately,
“Tho. Reid.
“Glasgow College,”12th April, 1792.”
This curious letter I published in the Ed. Phil. Journal for October 1, 1820. It excited the particular attention of the late George Chalmers, Esq., who sent me an elaborate letter upon the subject; but as I was at that time in the expectation of obtaining some important information through other channels, this letter was not published. This hope, however, has been disappointed. A careful search has been made through the charter-chest of the Newtons of Newton in East Lothian, by Mr. Richard Hay Newton, the representative of that family, but no document whatever has been found that can throw the least light upon the matter. It deserves to be remarked, however, that Sir Richard Newton, the alleged correspondent of Sir Isaac, appears to have destroyed his correspondence; for though the charter-chest contains the letters of his predecessors for some generations, yet there is not a single epistolary document either of his own or of his lady’s.
Hitherto the evidence of Sir Isaac’s Scottish descent has been derived chiefly from his conversation with Mr. James Gregory; but I am enabled, by the kindness of Mr. Robison, to corroborate this evidence by the following information, derived, as will be seen, from the family of the Newtons of Newton. Among various memoranda in the handwriting of Professor Robison, who at one time proposed to write the life of Sir Isaac, are the following:—
“1st, Lord Henderland informed me in a letter dated March, 1794, that he had heard from his infancy that Sir Isaac considered himself as descended from the family of Newton of Newton. This he heard from his uncle Richard Newton of Newton (who was third son of Lord William Hay of Newhall):” “He said that Sir Isaac wrote to Scotland to learn whether any descendants of that family remained, and this (it was thought) with the view to leave some of his fortune to the family possessing the estate with the title of baronet. Mr. Newton, nothaving this honour, and being a shy man, did not encourage the correspondence, because he did not considerhimselfas of kin to Sir Isaac, &c.”
“2d, Information communicated to me by Hay Newton, Esq., of that ilk, 18th August, 1800.”
“The late Sir Richard Newton of Newton, Bart., chief of that name, having no male children, settled the estate and barony of Newton in East Lothian county upon his relation Richard Hay Newton, Esq., son of Lord William Hay.”138—“It cannot be discovered how long the family of Newton have been in possession of the barony, there being no tradition concerning that circumstance further than that they came originally from England at a very distant period, and settled on these lands.”—“The celebrated Sir Isaac Newton was a distant relation of the family, and corresponded with the last baronet, the above-mentioned Sir Richard Newton.”
The preceding documents furnish the most complete evidence that the conversation respecting Sir Isaac Newton’s family took place between him and Mr. Gregory; and the testimony of Lord Henderland proves that his own uncle, Richard Newton of Newton, the immediate successor of Sir Richard Newton, with whom Sir Isaac corresponded, was perfectly confident that such a correspondence took place.
All these circumstances prove that Sir Isaac Newton could not trace his pedigree with any certainty beyond his grandfather, and that there were two different traditions in his family,—one which referred his descent to John Newton of Westby, and the other to a gentleman of East Lothian who accompanied King James VI. to England. In the first of these traditions he seems to have placed most confidence in 1705, when he drew out his traditionary pedigree; but as the conversation with Professor James Gregory respecting his Scotch extractiontook placetwenty yearsafterward, namely, between 1725 and 1727, it is probable that he had discovered the incorrectness of his first opinions, or at least was disposed to attach more importance to the other tradition respecting his descent from a Scotch family.
In the letter addressed to me by the learned George Chalmers, Esq. I find the following observations respecting the immediate relations of Sir Isaac. “The Newtons of Woolsthorpe,” says he, “who were merely yeomen farmers, were not by any means opulent. The son of Sir Isaac’s father’s brother was a carpenter called John. He was afterward appointed gamekeeper to Sir Isaac, as lord of the manor, and died at the age of sixty in 1725. This John had a son, Robert, (John?) who was Sir Isaac’s second cousin, and who became possessed of the whole land estates at and near Woolsthorpe, which belonged to the great Newton, as his heir-at-law.139Robert (John?) became a worthless and dissolute person, who very soon wasted this ancient patrimony, and falling down with a tobacco-pipe in his mouth when he was drunk, it broke in his throat, and put an end to his life at the age of thirty years, in 1737.”