While studying at Cambridge he decided to apply to the
Colonial Administrative Service (CAS). The job of colonial administrator was an attractive prospect for young men who sought both adventure and public service in the far flung outposts of Empire. In Newns's words, "It was looked upon as a plum job much in demand".
Nigeria After a year's course on "Tropical African Services" at Cambridge, Newns was appointed to
Nigeria in 1932. He was posted to South Eastern Nigeria and worked as an Assistant
District Officer. His first post as District Officer was at
Bende, Nigeria. He spent 17 years working in district administration and served under some of the greatest Colonial Governors of his era, including
Sir Donald Cameron,
Sir Bernard Bourdillon, and
Sir Arthur Richards. In 1949, he moved to the Secretariat in
Lagos. Newns spent over a third of his life in Africa, the continent which became his spiritual home. He abhorred all forms of racial prejudice, and counted numerous African leaders and academics among his very closest friends. These included
Simeon Adebo, and Sir
Milton Margai, the first Prime Minister of independent Sierra Leone. Newns was devastated by the assassination in 1966 of his friend Sir
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Prime Minister of Nigeria, with whom he had worked closely during the constitutional preparations for Nigerian independence. He believed Tafawa Balewa's death to be not only a great tragedy for the people of Nigeria but also a huge blow to peaceful political change across the newly independent African continent. • a knight commander of the
Royal Victorian Order in December 1961; and • a knight commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in January 1963. ==Death==