He attended Brisbane Grammar School and the University of Sydney, graduating with a Bachelor of Engineering specialising in mining and metallurgy in 1901.
He served with the Malay States Guides in World War I and then formed Alluvial Tin (Malaya) Ltd in 1923 with Graham Pratten.
Newman returned to Caboolture, and on 16 February 1927 married Gwendoline Nita Stephenson; they settled in a thirty-eight room mansion.
Newman bought extensive property in rural Queensland and the Northern Territory, acquiring dairy farms, pineapple plantations, and cattle studs like Anthony Lagoon Station.
Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1957, he was awarded the medal of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in 1960.