John Hope Simpson

John Hope Simpson
John Hope Simpson

Sir John Hope Simpson KBE CIE OBJ[1] (23 July 1868 10 April 1961) was a British Liberal politician who served as a Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom and later in the Government of the Dominion of Newfoundland.

Simpson was born in West Derby, son of John Hope Simpson of Sefton Park, Liverpool and Margaret Swan. He was christened "John Hope".[2]

Civil service

Simpson was in the Indian Civil Service between 1897 and 1916. He held numerous governmental posts, having been acting chief commander of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He was Private Secretary to the Ministry of Labour in 1917.

Politics

Simpson ran as Liberal candidate and was elected at the 1922 general election becoming Member of Parliament (MP) for the previously Conservative-held constituency of Taunton in Somerset. He was re-elected in 1923 general election, but was defeated at the 1924 general election. He did not stand for Parliament again.

Later career

In 1925 Simpson was knighted. He was posted to Greece for the British Army, where he was the vice-president for the Refugee Settlement Committee.[3] He authored the Hope Simpson Report in 1930, following the widespread 1929 Palestine riots. He is known for his work on the question of refugees. In 1931 he became director-general of the Chinese National Government Flood Relief Commission, where in 1934 he commented on the Japanese bombing of a flood refugee camp. Coming out of retirement at 66 years of age, Sir John became the Commissioner of Natural Resources and Acting-Commissioner of Justice for The Commission of Government of Newfoundland from 1934 until 1936.[4]

Port Hope Simpson, Newfoundland was named after him in response to the most significant backing [5] he had given to John Osborn Williams, the owner of the Labrador Development Company Limited, who set up a loggers' camp in Alexis Bay for cutting and exporting pitwood to Cardiff for the collieries of South Wales.[6] Simpson also established the Newfoundland Rangers No Report Found a welfare and police force meant to link the people of Newfoundland and Labrador with The Commission of Government in St. John's.

In 1937 Sir John received the Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire medal not so very long after his return from Newfoundland. He continued to be involved in the Jewish/Palestine Question after World War II. He contributed to the Report to General-Assembly, in 1947, for the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine.[7]

Sir John Hope Simpson died on 10 April 1961. He left £29,764 16s to an unknown heir.

See also

Bibliography

References

  1. ISBN 978 1291370058
  2. Roger T. Stearn, ‘Simpson, Sir John Hope (1868–1961)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2012 accessed 6 Dec 2015
  3. ISBN 978 1291370058
  4. ISBN 978 1291370058
  5. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A1_list_original_correspondence_consulted.jpg
  6. ISBN 978 1482669992
  7. ISBN 978 1291370058

ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

External links

Fact Findings

Original Correspondence Consulted about The Public Enquiry into the Affairs of The Labrador Development Company Limited

Extract of Accounts J O Williams and Company Limited 1973

Newfoundland Rangers Photographs, Port Hope Simpson District

Newfoundland Rangers Monthly Welfare Reports Port Hope Simpson District 1940-43

Interpretive Work

Newspaper and Magazine Articles 1934-49

Maps

Fieldwork Photographs

People Photographs

Verifiable Labrador Development Company Ltd. Publicity Brochure Photographs Circa 1934

References

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Sir Arthur Griffith-Boscawen
Member of Parliament for Taunton
19221924
Succeeded by
Andrew Hamilton Gault
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/22/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.