Simpson, John, 1819-1859.

Irish-born surgeon in the British Navy who participated in several Arctic voyages.

From the description of John Simpson papers, 1825-1875 and undated (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 28308710

John Simpson (1819-1859) was born in Larne, in county Antrim, Ireland, on December 1st, 1819. He began his medical training at the University of Glasgow in 1835, and then completed it over the next four years primarily at the universities of Edinburgh and Dublin, the Richmond Hospital School in Dublin (by 1850 known as the Carmichael School), and the Edinburgh School. At the 1841 census he was an Assistant Surgeon at the Royal Haslar Hospital, Hampshire. Simpson entered the naval service as a surgeon. From his own account (a letter dated 1844), he served first on the HMS Queen (Mar. 23-June 18, 1841); the HMS Cornwallis (June 19, 1841-Jan. 20, 1842); then as an assistant surgeon on voyages with the HMS Blonde (Jan. 21, 1842-Mar. 23, 1843), during which he "landed at the capture of Chapoo and Woosung"; the emigration ship Superior (May 30-Dec. 21, 1843), which transported "liberated" Africans to colonies such as Guyana; the HM cutter Seaflower (1845); and the HM surveying vessel Bonetta (1845-1847). During 1844 he served at the Naval Hospital in Plymouth. Simpson was later an officer on the "discovery ship" HMS Plover, initiating his service sometime around 1847, while the Plover participated in the search for Sir John Franklin (1847-1855). During that time the Plover spent several years stationed in the Behring Strait as a supply vessel, including a three-year stint from 1852-1855. Simpson's studies of Inuit society and command of Inuit languages made him an important liaison between the English and the local populations. While stationed in the Artic, Simpson conducted anthropological studies of Inuit culture, recorded detailed meteorological observations of the Arctic climate, and printed playbills and newsletters on a shipboard printing press. After his journeys Simpson served on the receiving ship Ceylon at Malta (1855). Simpson died on August 29, 1859 while serving at Haslar Hospital in Southampton, England. [Sources include the New Navy List, 1855.]

From the guide to the John Simpson Papers, 1825-1875 and undated, (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University)