Richard Simpson (16 September 1820–5 April 1876) was a

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writer and literary scholar. He was born at

Beddington Beddington is a suburban settlement in the London Borough of Sutton on the boundary with the London Borough of Croydon. Beddington is formed from a village of the same name which until early the 20th century still included land which became t ...

, Surrey, into an Anglican family, and was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and at

Oriel College Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, w ...

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. He obtained a BA degree on 9 February 1843. He was ordained in the Church of England, and became the vicar of Mitcham in Surrey, in 1844, the same year that he married his cousin, Elizabeth Mary Cranmer. He resigned his position some time before being received into the Catholic Church on 1 August 1846. He then spent more than a year on

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, becoming very proficient as a linguist. Simpson returned to England in 1847, and settled in

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history ...

, Surrey. In 1850, he began to write for ''The Rambler'', a Catholic periodical founded by converts. In 1856, he became its assistant editor, and in 1858, was made editor. When the magazine was discontinued in 1862 Simpson, with Sir John Acton, began the ''Home and Foreign Review''. This met with resistance from the Catholic hierarchy, and was discontinued in 1864. Afterwards Simpson devoted himself to the study of Shakespeare, to music, and to writing. He was one of the first to advance the theory that Shakespeare had been a Catholic.Josef L. Altholz: "Richard Simpson"
in the ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

''. Also, he was elected a member of the committee of the New Shakspere Society in 1874. He is probably best remembered for his biography of the English Jesuit

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

, Saint Edmund Campion; this book was praised by

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires '' Decl ...

in his own Campion book from seven decades later. Simpson's ''Edmund Campion'' was revised, edited and enlarged by Fr. Peter Joseph in 2010."''Edmund Campion'', by Richard Simpson, revised by Peter Joseph"
review by Fr Anthony Robbie. ''AD2000.com.au.'' from ''AD2000'' Vol. 23, No. 11 (December 2010–January 2011), p. 15. Retrieved 2013-01-31. Simpson died of cancer in Rome on 5 April 1876.

Works

* ''Invocation of Saints proved from the Bible alone'' (1849) * ''The Lady Falkland: Her Life'' (1861) * ''Edmund Campion'' (1867) * ''Introduction to the Philosophy of Shakespeare's Sonnets'' (1868) * ''The School of Shakespeare'' (1872) * ''Sonnets of Shakespeare selected from a complete setting, and miscellaneous songs'' (1878)

References

External links

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(1859) {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Richard 1820 births 1876 deaths Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism English Roman Catholics Liberal Catholicism Deaths from cancer in Lazio