Nathaniel Newnham-Davis

Nathaniel Newnham-Davis (6 November 1854 – 28 May 1917), generally known as Lieutenant Colonel Newnham-Davis, was a food writer and gourmet. After a military career, he took up journalism, and was chiefly known for his restaurant reports from London establishments of the last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th. He was also active in the theatre as an occasional playwright and amateur performer.

Newnham-Davis was born in London on 6 November 1854, the eldest son of Henry Newnham-Davis and his wife, Mary. He was educated at Harrow School, and joined The Buffs, a leading infantry regiment of the British army. He served in the South African colonial campaigns with the Imperial Mounted Infantry, and was decorated and twice mentioned in dispatches. He later served in the Straits Settlements, China and India. For three years he was attached to the Intelligence Department at Simla.

In 1894, Newnham-Davis retired from the army with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and joined the staff of The Sporting Times, remaining with the publication until 1912. From 1894 to 1900 he was also editor of The Man of the World. He wrote fiction, Three Men and a God, and other stories (1896),Jadoo (1898) and "Baby" Wilkinson's V.C., and other stories (1899).

The Times described Newnham-Davis as a playwright in addition to his military and journalistic career. While still in the army he made a version of A Midsummer Night's Dream "adapted to pastoral representation", published in Calcutta. He published a play, A Charitable Bequest – A comedietta (1900). He wrote the story for several ballets, and was co-author of a show, Lady Madcap, in collaboration with Paul Rubens and Percy Greenbank, produced in London in 1904. In the same year he joined W.S. Gilbert, F.C. Burnand, Bernard Shaw and others in a charity matinée performance of Gilbert's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern at the Garrick Theatre.

...
Wikipedia