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John Palgrave Simpson was significant contributor to the world of mid-Victorian theatrical entertainment. He wrote more than fifty pieces in a variety of genres, including dramas, comedies operas, and spectacles, between 1850 and 1885. While never a groundbreaking playwright, Simpson was attuned to the interests of his audiences and, consequently, consistently successful.

]] John Palgrave Simpson was born on13 June 1807 in Norwich, the second of the six children of William and Katherine Simpson. His father was town clerk of Norwich and treasurer of the county of northfolk. Simpson was educated by private tutors and at corpus Christi College of the University of Cambridge, where he took his B.A. in 1829 and M.A. in 1832. When he completed his studies, his parents encouraged him to enter the priesthood; instead, for the next fifteen years he traveled on the Continent, mainly living in Germany, at his father's expense. In 1842 he converted to Roman Catholicism in Munich.