This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Binnajung (talk | contribs) at 02:03, 21 November 2008. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 02:03, 21 November 2008 by Binnajung (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) | This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "John Palgrave Simpson" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
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.
Background
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.
References
- Coleman, John. Players and Playwrites I Have Known, volume 2.
- {{cite book|last=Cook|first=Dutton|title=[[Nights at the Play: A View of the English Stage}}
- {{cite book|last=Kent|first=Charles|title=[[The Dictionary of National Biography}}
- {{cite book|last=Mullin|first=Donald|title=[[Victorian Actors and Actresses in Review: A Dictionary of Contemporary Vies of Representative British and American Actors and Actresses, 1837-1901}}
- {{cite book|last=Nicoll|first=Allardyce|title=[[A History of Late Nineteenth-Century Drama, 1850-1900, volume 2}}