LOCAL historian and railway enthusiast Roger Fredrick Newman died on Tuesday, November 24 aged 83, having suffered from Covid-19.

Born on October 10, 1937 in Birmingham, Roger and his wife Jacqueline moved to Trowbridge in 1973.

Having met on holiday Roger and Jacqueline married in 1968, and made their first home in Redditch.

Roger soon became a fount of knowledge on Trowbridge history, and made his home for many years in Southwick. For the last two decades he had studied and made records of all the shops and trading places in the town over the last 200 years.

Describing Roger as a keen railway enthusiast, Jacqueline said if people needed information on the railways of Britain they would call him, rather then the Railways National Enquiry Office. And he was not just an expert on British railways, and studied the railways in Finland, as well as enjoying many holidays travelling by train.

Following his National Service in the RAF in 1955 he took a train holiday through Europe into Russia, and went to Finland to see where they build trains.

There he met Liisa, who showed him around the factory and whom remained a lifelong friend and visited with Jacqueline sparking his interest in Finnish railways.

Roger worked in Trowbridge for Unigate, dealing with exports, until 1981 when he worked from home doing export documentation training.

In 2002 he was given the Trowbridge Civic Award for his work with the town’s Chamber of Commerce – of which he was the president in the 1990s.

Jacqueline, 78, explained that because their son, Timothy, 40, has Downs Syndrome her husband was heavily involved in early days of Stepping Stones, the specialist centre in Trowbridge for children with special needs, and for a time was their treasurer. He was also treasurer of the Trowbridge and District Christian Aid Committee, as well as the chairman of the West Wilts Rail Users group.

Jacqueline said: “We had 52 happy years together, following different interests. We got a very happy and loving balance in our lives by respecting each other.

“He really will be greatly missed by so many in Trowbridge.”

Mr Newman was also a keen supporter of the Trowbridge Museum, as well as the town’s twinning groups. He and Jacqueline would visit Leer in Germany every other year and he was the treasurer for the twinning group with Elbląg, in Poland.

Friends paid tribute to him this week on the Trowbridge Museum Facebook page, leaving comments including:

Cllr Bob Brice: “A fount of knowledge on Trowbridge and on European Railway timetables.”

Julia Bender: “He knew so much about Trowbridge and the Town Hall - amazing character - will be sadly missed.”

Nikki Ritson: “It’s lovely to see so many nice comments. We were so lucky to have Roger in our lives. He will be missed by so many.”

Leader of Trowbridge Town Council, Stewart Palmen: “So sad, such a lovely man and a head full of Trowbridge history.”

Susan Pope: “Roger was one of the first people I met when we moved to Trowbridge. This is such sad news. Rest in peace, Roger.”

The Newman family are still making arrangements for the funeral service, which will be held in accordance with current social distancing regulations.