Edward Simpson ca.1699-1764

Sir Edward SIMPSON ca.1699-1764

Biographical Note

Son of Francis Simpson of Fishlake, Yorkshire. LL.B Trinity Hall, Cambridge 1724, LL.D 1728, fellow 1724, Master 1735-64; admitted at Lincoln's Inn 1719 (barrister, 1726. He became an advocate at Doctors' Commons in 1736, chancellor of Bath and Wells in 1738, of London 1747-59, and Dean of the Arches in 1758. He was MP for Dover 1759-64, and was knighted in 1761.

Books

Simpson used an engraved armorial bookplate, made after 1736 when he became a member of Doctors' Commons (Franks 26969). The extent of his library is not known; in his will, he left his books (along with most of the rest of his estate) to his wife Elizabeth, except for some manuscripts left to his cousin Francis Simpson for the period of his life, which after they were to be given to Trinity Hall.

Sources

• History of Parliament.
• Will of Sir Edward Simpson, The National Archives PROB 11/904/56.
• Gambier Howe, E. R. J. Franks bequest: catalogue of British and American book plates bequeathed to the ... British Museum. London, 1903-4.