Jack Simmons (30 August 1915 – 3 September 2000) was an English transport historian and emeritus professor of history at
University of Leicester
, mottoeng = So that they may have life
, established =
, type = public research university
, endowment = £20.0 million
, budget = £326 million
, chancellor = David Willetts
, vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah
, head_labe ...
, known as a specialist in
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
history.
Biography
Born on 30 August 1915 at
Isleworth
Isleworth ( ) is a town located within the London Borough of Hounslow in West London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane, London, River Crane. Isleworth's or ...
,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
, Jack Simmons was the only child of Seymour Francis Simmons, a hosiery maker then serving in the
Royal Fusiliers
The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881.
The regiment served in many wars ...
, and his wife, Katherine Lillias, daughter of Thomas Finch, a doctor from
Babbacombe,
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
. His father was killed on the
Somme in France in 1918. He and his mother settled after several years in
Carshalton
Carshalton () is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated south-southwest of Charing Cross, in the valley of the River Wandle, one of the sources of which is Carshalton ...
,
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
.
They continued to live together until her death in 1971. Simmons was educated at the independent Rushmore School in
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
, at
Westminster School
(God Gives the Increase)
, established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560
, type = Public school Independent day and boarding school
, religion = Church of England
, head_label = Hea ...
and at
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...
, where he graduated in modern history in 1937. He spent a year in France and then returned to Oxford as a professor's assistant.
Medically unfit for military service in World War II, Simmons was appointed a lecturer at Christ Church in 1943, researching imperial history. His early publications included a 1945 biography of the poet
Robert Southey
Robert Southey ( or ; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a ra ...
, which led to him being elected a fellow of the
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...
. He was much influenced in this period by his fellow Oxford historian
A. L. Rowse. Simmons became in 1947 the first professor of history at University College, Leicester, which received its charter as the
University of Leicester
, mottoeng = So that they may have life
, established =
, type = public research university
, endowment = £20.0 million
, budget = £326 million
, chancellor = David Willetts
, vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah
, head_labe ...
in 1957. Apart from running his own department there, Simmons also concerned himself with the college library and with the Senate publications board, precursor of Leicester University Press. Simmons was active in the campaign to win university status and described the process in his book ''New University'' (1958). He served at the university as public orator, pro-vice-chancellor, and acting vice-chancellor (in 1962). He retired from his chair at Leicester in 1975.
Another abiding interest was topography. He was behind the launch by the publishers
William Collins, Sons
William Collins, Sons (often referred to as Collins) was a Scottish printing and publishing company founded by a Presbyterian schoolmaster, William Collins, in Glasgow in 1819, in partnership with Charles Chalmers, the younger brother of Thomas ...
of ''A New Survey of England'', although this was cancelled after only three volumes. He turned to a new project, A Visual History of Britain, to which he contributed the volumes ''Transport'' (1962) and ''Britain and the World'' (1965).
[ His ''Selective Guide to England'', covering 130 places, appeared in 1979.
Jack Simmons died on 3 September 2000 at a nursing home in ]Wigston Magna
Wigston, or Wigston Magna, is a town in Leicestershire, England, just south of Leicester on the A5199. It had a population of 32,321 in 2011.
Geography
Wigston is south of the city of Leicester, at the centre of Leicestershire and the Ea ...
, Leicestershire.[
]
Work
Railway history
Simmons had been joined at Christ Church in 1934 by Michael Robbins, a school friend from Westminster, who shared his abiding interest in railways. This tied in with Simmons's work at Leicester to set up a Victorian Studies Centre. He and Robbins launched in 1953 ''The Journal of Transport History'', which is still published today. Simmons himself edited it until 1973. His many books in this field began with ''The Railways of Britain: an Historical Introduction'' (1961), included the meticulous "biography" of ''St Pancras Station'' (1968), and culminated in ''The Oxford Companion to British Railway History'' (1997), edited and compiled with Gordon Biddle.[
Simmons was active in the foundation in 1975 of the ]National Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant r ...
at York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, where a reading room in the library was named after him.[ He also worked with London Transport on its new ]London Transport Museum
The London Transport Museum (often abbreviated as the LTM) is a transport museum based in Covent Garden, London. The museum predominantly hosts exhibits relating to the heritage of London's transport, as well as conserving and explaining the h ...
in Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
. In addition, he became a member of the first advisory committee of the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
in Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
, and mounted two exhibitions on railway photography at the National Railway Museum.[
Simmons became an honorary fellow of the ]National Museum of Science and Industry
The Science Museum Group (SMG) consists of five British museums:
* The Science Museum, London, Science Museum in South Kensington, London
* The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester
* The National Railway Museum in York
* The Locomotion Mu ...
in 1993, and was awarded an OBE in the 1999 New Year Honours.[ A ]festschrift
In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
was published in 2002.
Publications
*(Jointly with Margery Perham
Dame Margery Freda Perham (6 September 1895 – 19 February 1982) was a British historian of, and writer on, African affairs.The Times, 22 February 1982, page 10. She was known especially for the intellectual force of her arguments in favour of Br ...
)
*(Jointly with C. E. M. Joad
Cyril Edwin Mitchinson Joad (12 August 1891 – 9 April 1953) was an English philosopher and broadcasting personality. He appeared on ''The Brains Trust'', a BBC Radio wartime discussion programme. He popularised philosophy and became a celebri ...
and others) (the chapter on Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
)
*
*(As editor)
*
*
*
*(As editor)
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Jack
1915 births
2000 deaths
20th-century English historians
Academics of the University of Leicester
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
People from Isleworth
British people in rail transport
English male non-fiction writers
Railway historians
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
20th-century English male writers