Henry Simpson, (22 October 1868 - 20 November 1960) was a banker and the founder and president of the Poets' Club in London in 1908.

Early life and education

Simpson was born in Canonbury, London, son of Archibald Simpson, a doctor, and Agnes Simpson (nee Forbes). Simpson's mother was descended from the Lord Forbes of Pitsligo. His Great Uncle was the Scottish architect

Archibald Simpson Archibald Simpson (4 May 1790 – 23 March 1847) was a Scottish architect, who along with his rival John Smith, is regarded as having fashioned the character of Aberdeen as "The Granite City".Simpson, William Douglas, (1947) ''The Archibald S ...

. He was brought up in Aberdeen and educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh.

Career

Following school he joined the banking profession, where he spent four years with the

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster Bank ...

in Edinburgh. He then returned to London where he joined the

Capital and Counties Bank The Capital and Counties Bank was a London clearing bank, which operated 473 branches throughout the United Kingdom from 1877 until its acquisition by Lloyds Bank in 1918. The bank was formed as the Hampshire and North Wilts Banking Company, fol ...

and took up the role of bank manager in their Westminster branch. In March 1908 he played a chief role in the founding of the Poets Club and was the club's first president. The first meeting consisted of a group of nine men and women who met at a Bohemian restaurant in Soho, all were poetry enthusiasts who wished to recite their works in public. The club was the first literary club to allow women as members. The club published a number of poetry anthologies which included Simpson's own poems alongside other poets including

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...

and T. E. Hulme. Simpsons' poems were published in newspapers and literary reviews around the world. He published three books of verse, the first was ''A Faery Flute'' which was published in 1909 which was described by the ''Aberdeen Daily Journal'' as being "full of fine thoughts and beautiful imagery, couched in choice language and in melodious rhythms." A second book of verse, ''The Golden Rose and Other Poems'', was published in 1917 and influenced by the war: the ''Illustrated London News'' review stated that " e author is one of those to whom the thought of war gives pain". and The Gentlewoman's review, that "his efforts breathe the true poetic spirit, and are pregnant with high-minded patriotism." Simpson's final book of verse, ''Lauds and Loves'', was published in 1930 with a preface by his friend, the writer

Gilbert Frankau Gilbert Frankau (21 April 1884 – 4 November 1952) was a popular British novelist. He was known also for verse (he was a war poet of World War I), including a number of verse novels, and short stories. He was born in London into a Jewish fa ...

. Simpson was for many years 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 ...

and was awarded a Lifetime Fellowship for "services to poetry and letters". He was also a member of the Society's council for ten years and held the role of honorary treasurer. Simpson, aged 90, was still president of the club when it celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1958. He died two year later in November 1960. He was married and had three children.

References

Sources

* Jewel Spears Brooker, ''Mastery and Escape: T.S. Eliot and the Dialectic of Modernism,'' University of Massachusetts Press, 1996, . (page 48)
The papers of Oscar Browning
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Henry British poets British bankers British male poets Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature 1868 births 1960 deaths