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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. His work was largely sentimental, and his depictions of fractured father-daughter relationships, contested fortunes, mistaken identities, and trusting country folk versus scheming city dwellers reflect the lingering melodramatic tastes of Victorian audiences in the second half of the century. in addition to his considerable dramatic output, Simpson also published novels, travel books, journalistic commentaries, and a translation. He served as secretary of the Dramatic Authors' Society from 1868 to 1883.

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.
• Cook, Dutton. Nights at the Play: A View of the English Stage.
• Kent, Charles. The Dictionary of National Biography.
• Mullin, Donald. Victorian Actors and Actresses in Review: A Dictionary of Contemporary Vies of Representative British and American Actors and Actresses, 1837-1901.
• Nicoll, Allardyce. A History of Late Nineteenth-Century Drama, 1850-1900, volume 2.