Newbery was an English merchant. He left Falmouth in March 1583 for Syria, arriving in Tripolis on 30 April. He went to Aleppo, and then overland via the Euphrates to Babylon and to Ormuz on the Gulf of Persia. He and his men were accused of being spies and were imprisoned in Ormuz, finally being freed and allowed to go on to Goa. At some point he made his way to Isfahan and then to eastern Turkey, where he returned overland to Constantinople via Samsun. His journeys are described in several letters sent to his friends in England. One of these letters is addressed to Richard Hakluyt, who had asked Newbery to search for the ‘Cosmography’, that is, the geographical work of Abulfeda.
Twee Reysen van Johan Newberie, De eene na het Heylig Land; en de andere na Balsara, Ormus, Persiën, en weder na huys door Turkyen. Ao. 1579. en vervolgens. Mitsgaders de Scheeps Togt van Petro Sarmiento, Naar de Straat van Magellaan, van Lima door de Zuyd-zee bevaren. Ao. 1579. Met een volkomen Register en Konst-Printen verrijkt. Beyde na aldereerst uyt het Engels en Spaans vertaald. Te Leyden, By Pieter van der Aa, Boekverkoper, 1706. Met Privilégie.