Newbury was born in Melbourne, Victoria and spent most of his childhood in Geelong. At the age of 18 Newbury entered the National Gallery of Victoria Art School, Melbourne, where he studied under Frederick McCubbin and Bernard Hall. Newbury won the Hugh Ramsay prize for portrait-painting in 1913 – his two pictures being placed first and second. In 1916 Newbury studied under Max Meldrum who influenced his work.