Brinley Newton-John

Newton-John initially served as an administrator at Christ's Hospital from 1936 to 1938, and at Stowe School from 1938 until 1940.^[1] He was commissioned in the British Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II and, being a fluent German speaker, was drafted into the intelligence department, becoming an MI5 officer.^[1][4] As part of that role, he interrogated German prisoners of war and was embedded among German POWs to gather intelligence about the anticipated German invasion of England.^[1][5] Notably, Newton-John arrested Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess, who had landed in Scotland. He also participated in the highly classified project at Bletchley Park, aimed at breaking the code of the German Enigma machine.^[1][6] On 5 September 1945, he was promoted to war substantive flight lieutenant.

After his demobilisation at the end of the war, he returned to teaching, as headmaster of the Cambridgeshire High School for Boys.^[1] In 1954, he moved to Australia with his family to become the master of Ormond College at the University of Melbourne. At Ormond, he oversaw the construction of a number of new buildings.^[1]

Following a scandalous divorce, he became associate professor of German and head of the department of arts at the newly established Newcastle University College, which was then part of the University of New South Wales.^[1] He served a number of roles before eventually becoming deputy vice-chancellor of the college until his retirement in 1974.^[1] Upon his early retirement, the university gave Newton-John the title of professor emeritus and named an award for creativity and innovation in his honour.^[1]

Described as a "pioneer of television in Australia", Newton-John was a host on the programme Any Questions in 1958 and the presenter of Forum for a Newcastle TV station, NBN 3, in 1962.^[1] He appeared on an episode of The Valleys People (a chat show featuring residents of the Hunter Valley) in 1980.^[7] After his retirement, Newton-John began working as a radio and television presenter; after moving to the Manly neighbourhood of Sydney in 1981, he served as a regular presenter on the classical music radio station 2 MBS–FM and was a member of its board of directors.^[1]

On 5 April 1937, he married Irene Helene Käthe Hedwig Born (Irene Helene), daughter of the physicist Max Born, at Kensington, London.^[1][8][9] The two had three children, including Olivia. The two divorced in 1958. On 28 June 1963, he married Valerie Ter Wee (née Cunningham), a bookshop manager and pianist, who later worked as a clinical psychologist, with whom he had two children.^[1] Newton-John divorced his second wife and married journalist Gay Mary Jean Holley (née McOmish) on 21 August 1983.^[1]

On 3 July 1992, Newton-John died at Manly of liver cancer,^[10] and was cremated.^[1]