Hibbert Newton, his signature from a regimental paylist dated Lincoln, England, 9 August 1781
Nationality: British North American (possibly from the Province of Nova Scotia)
Born: 1763
Regimental commission dates:
Ensign 1 March 1776
Lieutenant 19 April 1780
Location during the Northern Campaign of 1777: recruiting in Ireland or Great Britain
Exchanged into another regiment: 11 January 1782 (with Lieutenant William Oldham, 53rd Regiment)
Died: unknown
At the age of 13, Hibbert Newton, born to a family with a predilection for the name "Hibbert," was appointed as the ensign of Captain Richard Baily's additional company of the 62nd Regiment of Foot on 1 March 1776. As such, he helped recruit new men for the regiment while the regiment was serving in America. Because of his recruitment duties, Newton did not serve in the Northern Campaign of 1777 and was therefore not part of the subsequent prisoner Convention Army. It is ironic that one of the regiment's few officers to have been born in the Western Hemisphere should have spent the war in Britain.
After the 62nd Regiment was repatriated to England in 1781, Newton, then a lieutenant, was assigned to Lieutenant-Colonel John Anstruther's company. Newton soon after decided upon an important trade: on 11 January 1782, he swapped units with Lieutenant William Oldham of the 53rd Regiment of Foot, a regiment then still assigned to the Canada garrison. This decision was perhaps based upon a desire of his to return to Canada, where he was probably from.