In Memoriam ~ Rob Newson who passed away on Wednesday 21st April 2010

I am really sorry to have to announce that our dear friend and one of the founder members of the Sheringham Shantymen Mr Rob Newson has passed away.  Rob died peacefully at home on Wednesday 21st April 2010 at 6.30 pm after many months of illness which he bore with great fortitude.

Rob was a founder member of the group and our first musical director.  It was his great enthusiasm which guided and helped us experiment with style and keep developing as a shanty group.  He brought many songs into our life and by researching their origins helped us develop a way of singing them.

Rob was a big man in both style and stature and as modest as only big men can be. He was multi-talented and a great Shantyman, dedicated, knowledgeable and a really great dramatist.  During his time with us he mastered many intruments as well as leading the way in singing sea shanties and no matter what happened, he was never fazed.

Rob was a teacher by profession and he taught us by example and his attention to detail was complete. He had studied the old shanties and he knew how the old songs had been developed and he somehow managed to incorporate a feeling of history and reality into his singing of any shanty. His rendition of Paddy Lay Back is an absolute classic and never failed to have me in fits of genuine laughter as well as a feeling of total admiration for the man who could entertain on one level and also hold an audience in the palm of his hand.

Among his myriad of talents, Rob was also a skilled artist and his sketch of Britannia on the cover of our last shanty song booklet will live on to be a testament to his memory.

All told, Rob was all things to all peope, he was kind, he was generopus, he was modest and he was our dear friend.