He became a demonstrator in
bacteriology and lecturer in infectious diseases at King's.[3] In 1900 he became Medical Officer to the Borough of
Finsbury in inner
London and the rural county of
Bedfordshire. His experiences in these posts led him to publish Infant Mortality: a Social Problem in 1906. This has remained a medical classic, pointing out the unchanged infant mortality rate over the preceding fifty years, and identifying the causes and areas potentially open to intervention. He was
Gresham Professor of Physic. In 1907 he was appointed by Sir
Robert Morant,
Permanent Secretary to the
Board of Education, as Chief Medical Officer to the Board, and in 1919 he was also appointed Chief Medical Officer to the Ministry of Health. The annual reports he wrote for both these posts were widely acclaimed as important and influential.[4]
In August 1898 he married Adelaide Constance Thorp (d.1946), who was an artist. They had no children. They lived at
Harrow Weald after he retired in 1935. He died in 1948 at
The Retreat, York.
Quaker
Born into a Quaker family, he remained a committed Christian throughout his life. From 1899, for some forty years, he was the (anonymous) editor of the Friends' Quarterly Examiner, a Quaker journal. In autumn 1914 he was involved in the establishment of the
Friends' Ambulance Unit, which provided medical care for soldiers and civilians in the war zone, and following the introduction of
conscription in 1916 he helped to negotiate exemptions for Quakers already serving with the FAU.
Education
In 1923 Newman was invited to address the centenary celebrations of his old school, Bootham. He referred to
Alcuin, an eighth century educator and deacon whose three guiding principles were: holy living and holy learning; teaching understanding rather than repetition; and, finally, that education should be 'wisely and liberally furnished'.[5] Newman believed that Quaker schools such as Bootham embodied these principles. He maintained an interest in medical education, and in 1923 he wrote Recent Advances in Medical Education.
Public health
His initial contribution, Infant Mortality: a Social Problem, was the forerunner of many writings about public health which proved respected and influential, including: Hygiene and Public Health in 1917, Outline of the Practice of Preventative Medicine in 1919, The Rise of Preventative Medicine in 1932, and The Building of the Nation’s Health in 1939. His annual reports as the Chief Medical Officer to the Ministry of Health were eagerly awaited each year, and were widely regarded as authoritative monographs on a variety of aspects of this field.
A Quaker Centenary. An address delivered at the ... centenary of Bootham School, York, etc. (1923)
A Special Report on an Infants' Milk Depot established under the auspices of the Finsbury Social Workers' Association. (1905)
An Outline of the Practice of Preventive Medicine. A memorandum (New edition.)(1926.)
Bacteria. Especially as they are related to the economy of nature, to industrial processes and to the public health. [Second edition, with additional matter, including new chapters on Tropical Diseases and the Bacterial Treatment of Sewage.] (1900)
Bakehouses in Finsbury. A special report under the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, Sections 97–102. (1902)
British Medical Association, Oxford, 1904. State Medicine Section. The Control of the Milk Supply ... Reprinted from the “British Medical Journal,” etc. (pp. 24. British Medical Association: London, 1904.)
The Building of a Nation's Health. (1939)
Citizenship and the Survival of Civilization. (1928)
The Commemoration of
Florence Nightingale. An oration delivered ... before the general meeting of the International Council of Nurses. London, July 1937
The disciples of
Boerhaave in Edinburgh. An address delivered at the bi-centenary celebration of the foundation of the Medical Faculty in the University of Edinburgh on 11 June 1926 ... Reprinted from the Edinburgh Medical Journal, etc. (1926)
English Social Services (1941)
The foundations of national health. The Sir
Charles Hastings lecture, 1928.
^"mini-review of Halley Stewart Lectures, 1930. Health and Social Evolution by Sir George Newman, published by George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1931". Journal of the Institute of Actuaries. 62 (2): 353.
doi:
10.1017/S0020268100010271.
^"Sir George Newman's Memorandum on Recent Advances in Medical Education in England (extract)". Journal of Mental Science. 69 (286): 407–408. 1923.
doi:
10.1192/bjp.69.286.407.
p. 408
Further reading
Sheard, Sally (2006). "The Nation's Doctor". London: The Nuffield Trust. {{
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