P.C.B. Newington

Philip Campbell Beatson Newington (1888–1964) was the author of a cookery book celebrating Malaysian food, something he conceived while starving as a prisoner of war at the Sime Road Camp in Singapore between 1942 and 1945.[1][2] During his incarceration, Newington founded a Gourmet Club, Good Food, for him and his fellow prisoners; the Club celebrated, in precise detail, cooking and eating imaginary meals.[3][4] A book of his experience and the recipes remembered and created, Good Food, was published in 1947.[5] Always curious of the culture of his adopted home he was, before and after World War II, a contributor to journals on his experiences of local customs.[6][7][8]

P.C.B. Newington
Born(1888-07-10)10 July 1888
Bedfordshire, England
Died15 May 1964(1964-05-15) (aged 75)
Ipoh, Malaysia
EducationBedford Modern School

Life

Newington was baptised on 10 July 1888,[9] the son of Charles Douglas Godfrey Newington and his wife, Frances Maria Newington.[9] He was educated at Bedford Modern School.[10]

Newington began his career in the Sarawak Service, becoming District officer amongst the Melanau at Mukah.[11][12][13] He was curious about local culture and was a contributor to many journals during his time as an expatriate.[14][15][16]

Newington later became a plantation owner in Sarawak[1] and was a prisoner of war in Singapore between 1942 and 1945.[2] He was initially interned at the Changi Prison[17] where he witnessed the so-called Double Tenth incident and kept an extant notebook of his experience.[18] After Changi he was transferred to the Sime Road Camp where he founded a gourmet club, Good Food, which celebrated cooking and eating imaginary meals.[19] In her book, Wartime Kitchen, Hong Suen Wong explained that ‘Revelling in the finer details of food and dining in a systematic way…became a way for the prisoners to relieve their hunger and to sustain them psychologically’.[19] A book of Newington's experience in the prison of war camp, Good Food, was published in 1947.[5]

In 1919 Newington married Valerie Murray Henderson.[20] He was a prominent Rotarian[21] and died in Ipoh on 15 May 1964.[10]

Selected work

References
  1. "Malaysia". 1961. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  2. Wong, Hong Suen (2009). Wartime Kitchen. ISBN 9789814217583. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  3. Leong-Salobir, Cecilia (3 May 2011). Food Culture in Colonial Asia. ISBN 9781136726545. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  4. "Private Papers P C B Newington (Documents.7620)". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  5. Good food. worldcat.org. OCLC 6499379.
  6. "The Sarawak Museum Journal". Sarawak Museum. 1988. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  7. "Proceedings of the ... International Symposium on Asian Studies". 1981. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  8. "The Sarawak Museum Journal". 1961. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  9. "Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records at Ancestry.co.uk". ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  10. "Malaysia". 1964. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  11. "Janus: Archives of the British Association of Malaysia and Singapore". University of Cambridge. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  12. Colonial Office, Great Britain (1914). "The Colonial Office List for ..." Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  13. "Malaysia". 1964. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  14. Metcalf, Peter (1991). A Borneo Journey into Death. ISBN 9789839629903. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  15. "The Sarawak Museum Journal". Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  16. "Acts of Integration, Expressions of Faith". Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  17. "Good food (11 / 1298)". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  18. "Private Papers P C B Newington (Documents.7620)". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  19. "Wartime Kitchen". Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  20. http://www.pustaka-sarawak.com/gazette/gazette_uploaded/1370831200.pdf
  21. "Witness to history". Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  22. "Good Food". Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  23. "Brunei Museum Journal". Retrieved 13 November 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.