Gabriel Newton

Who was Gabriel Newton?

Gabriel Newton was a leading figure of Leicester.

Born in Leicester, he was made a councillor in 1710, an alderman in 1726 and mayor of Leicester in 1732. He was a wool-comber by trade, and later became landlord of the Horse and Trumpet Inn. He was married thrice, each a woman of considerable wealth, and thus he himself became wealthy. After the death of his only son he had no descendants, so he left his fortune to aid the education of the poor, establishing a charity school in Leicester at Church of St Mary de Castro which was opened in 1785 after legal problems with his will.

He is one of the four men portrayed on Leicester's Clock Tower.