THE SIMPSON FAMILY

The sons of Henry L Simpson

Judith Craxford
Associate Editor

The Blue Pages are dedicated to the families of my wife Judith. With the increasing wealth and depth of articles from this part of the family tree I am now very pleased to be able to split the section in two. Judith's father was the oldest son of sea captain and assistant harbourmaster Henry L. Simpson. A Tyneside family born and bred they have their roots in the sea. There has also been a strong involvement in education and Judith herself was a teacher in an earlier life.

Donald Simpson
Associate Editor

This latest venture is largely due to the efforts of Donald Simpson, Judith's Uncle and the last surviving of the four brothers. Despite failing health he has been an enthusiatic contributor and raconteur, building up a vivid series of word pictures of his brothers and his life experiences. We have spent several fascinating afternoons committing fact, history and anecdote to tape prior to its transcription for these pages. His only regret is that it was not possible to record similar conversations with his mother and aunts while they had still been alive.

"Family history research is very interesting. I mean we've been just thinking back 30 or 40 years here but a long term history of the family could go 200 years back when they were living in a completely different way. My Grandmother Welch and I used to talk on a Friday night and she told me a lot about her childhood. She would walk from South Shields to Westoe Village and it was all rural. I also said to my mother on one or two occasions that we should record conversations with her. It's a pity really otherwise we might have had a lot of detailed memories of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, the First World War and all the rest of it" - DMcDS: July 2007

He also recognised the value and importance of identifying and cataloguing the family photograph collection, documents and other items of interest. These have been instrumental in illuminating several generations of forebears and many pages right across his family tree. Two pictures in particular (those of his great- and great, great grandfathers) were featured on our pages and resulted in a reconnection with a long-lost branch of the family.

Newfloridian

Added: July 28th 2007
Last update: November 20th 2011

THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY HONOURS
(Added November 20th 2011)

It was announced on June 11th 2011 that Peter Simpson has been awarded an Knighthood (K.B.E.) in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. The investiture was carried out by H.R.H. Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday October 26th 2011. Sir Peter is Executive Principal of the Brooke Weston Partnership, Corby, Northamptonshire who has delivered excellent education to children in a deprived area of the UK. He received an O.B.E. in 2006 for services to education. Our Heartiest Congratulations!
Sir Peter is Judith's brother.

RICHARD GAINS HIS DEGREE
(Added July 3rd 2009)

Richard Henry Atkinson received his Bachelor of Arts degree (Ancient History and English) at a Convocation Ceremony held at the University of Wales, Lampeter today. Our Heartiest Congratulations!
Richard is Judith's son.
The pictorial record

If you have any questions or comments about the information on this site, please contact us at AlanCrax@aol.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

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