John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon
Encyclopedia
John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon GCSI
GCVO
OBE
PC
(28 February 1873 – 11 January 1954) was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second. He is one of only three people to have served as Home Secretary
, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer
, the others being R.A. Butler
and James Callaghan
(Roy Jenkins
narrowly missed becoming the fourth, when Callaghan preferred Anthony Crosland
to him as Foreign Secretary in 1976, despite Jenkins's well-known desire for the appointment). He also served as Lord Chancellor
, the most senior position in the British legal system. Beginning his career as a Liberal
, he joined the National Government in 1931, creating the Liberal National Party
in the process. At the end of his career, he was essentially a Conservative
.
in Edinburgh
and Wadham College, Oxford
, where he was a near-contemporary of F.E. Smith and of the athlete C.B. Fry
, he became a fellow of All Souls
in 1897 and was called to the bar at the Inner Temple
in 1899.
Member of Parliament
(MP) for Walthamstow
at the 1906 general election
, later being elected for Spen Valley
. He entered the Government as Solicitor-General
in 1910, and advanced in 1913 to Attorney-General
, in both cases succeeding Rufus Isaacs
; he was the leader of the (unsuccessful) Cabinet rebels against Winston Churchill
's 1914 naval estimates, and contemplated resigning in protest at the declaration of war in 1914 but in the end did not do so.
In Asquith's
coalition government in May 1915, Simon became Home Secretary, declining an offer of the Lord Chancellorship, but resigned early the next year in protest against the illiberal introduction of conscription. He proved his patriotism by serving briefly as an officer on Trenchard
's staff in the Royal Flying Corps
.
After Asquith's fall in late 1916, Simon remained in opposition as an Asquithite Liberal until he lost his seat at the "Coupon Election" in 1918. In 1919 he attempted to return to Parliament at the Spen Valley by-election. Although the Coalition Liberals who had formerly held the seat were pushed into third place, Simon came second; in the view of Maurice Cowling
his defeat by Labour marked the point at which Labour began to be seen as a serious threat by the older parties. During the early 1920s he practiced successfully at the Bar, before winning Spen Valley at the General Election in 1922, and in 1922-24 he was treated almost as deputy leader of the Liberal Party, a role he relinquished when Asquith once again lost his seat in Parliament and Lloyd George took over the chairmanship of the Liberal MPs. Unlike Lloyd George, Simon opposed the General Strike
in 1926. Simon spoke for Newfoundland in a boundary dispute with Canada, before announcing his permanent retirement from the Bar, then from 1927 to 1931 he chaired the Simon Commission
on India's constitution
.
During the late 1920s and especially during the 1929-31 Parliament, in which Labour had no majority but were allowed to continue in office by the Liberals, Simon was seen as the leader of the minority of Liberal MPs who disliked Lloyd George's inclination to support Labour rather than the Conservatives. In June 1931, before the formation of the National Government, Simon resigned the Liberal whip and was accused by Lloyd George of leaving "the slime of hypocrisy" as he crossed the floor.
In 1931, when the Liberals split once again, Simon became leader of the Liberal Nationals
(later to become the National Liberals) who continued to support protectionism and Ramsay MacDonald's
National Government after the departure of the mainstream Liberals under Herbert Samuel. Simon was never opposed by a Conservative candidate at Spen Valley after 1924, and over time, Simon's Liberal Nationals became hardly distinguishable from the Conservatives, although some Conservative MPs continued to be known locally as "National Liberals" for decades after the Second World War.
Simon served as Foreign Secretary under MacDonald, highlights of his tenure of office being the repudiation by Germany, under its new chancellor Adolf Hitler
, of the League of Nations and of Disarmament efforts, and the Japanese occupation of Manchuria. He attracted particular opprobrium for a speech in Geneva in December 1932, in which he failed explicitly to condemn Japanese actions.(Douglas Reed, 'All Our Tomorrows'pub.1942,pg.62 ~ Geneva, 1931, Sir John Simon congratulated by the Japanese emissary for presentation of Japan's case against China').
Simon then served as Home Secretary, during which time he passed the Public Order Act 1936
restricting the activities of Oswald Mosley
's Blackshirts, and Deputy Leader of the House of Commons
under Baldwin
and Chancellor of the Exchequer
under Chamberlain
, of whom he had become a close political ally.
Simon was cursed with an unfortunately chilly manner, and from at least 1914 onwards had difficulty in conveying an impression that he was acting from honourable motives. His awkward attempts to strike up friendships with his colleagues (e.g. asking his Cabinet colleagues to call him "Jack") often fell flat. Neville Chamberlain wrote of Simon: "I am always trying to like him, and believing I shall succeed when something crops up to put me off", while Harold Nicolson
described him more pithily as "a toad and a worm". Another anecdote from the late 1940s tells how the socialist intellectual G. D. H. Cole
got into a third-class compartment on the train back from Oxford to London, to break off conversation with Simon; to his dismay Simon followed suit, only for both men to produce first class tickets when the inspector did his rounds.
By 1940 Simon, along with his successor as Foreign Secretary Sir Samuel Hoare, had come to be seen as one of the "Guilty Men" responsible for appeasement of the dictators ("the snakiest of the lot" in Hugh Dalton
's description), and like Hoare his continued service in the War Cabinet was not regarded as acceptable in the new coalition. Simon was raised to the peerage as Viscount Simon
, of Stackpole Elidor in the County of Pembroke, and became Lord Chancellor
in Churchill's
government, although he did not sit in the War Cabinet. In 1945 Churchill formed a brief "Caretaker" administration but once again excluded Simon from the Cabinet. After Churchill's defeat in 1945, Simon never held office again. Although he had won plaudits for his legal skills as Lord Chancellor, Attlee
declined to appoint him to the British delegation at the Nuremberg War Trials, telling him bluntly in a letter that his role in the pre-war governments made this unwise. In 1951 Churchill did not offer him a return to the Woolsack
. Simon's portrait (by Frank O. Salisbury
, 1944) is in the National Portrait Gallery.
In 1952 Simon published his memoirs, Retrospect, which Harold Nicolson reviewed as saying that he described the "nectarines and peaches of office" as if they were "a bag of prunes". The quote, "I so very tire of politics. The early death of too many a great man is attributed to her touch" is from Simon's memoir. After his death in 1954, Simon's estate was probated at £93,006.
, Oxfordshire
, later to be vice-principal of St Hugh's Hall. They had three children - Margaret (Mrs. Geoffrey Edwards), Joan (Mrs. John Bickford-Smith) and John Gilbert, the 2nd Viscount Simon, (1902–1993). His first wife died soon after the birth of her son in September 1902. He remarried in 1917 Kathleen Rochard Manning (1863/4-1955) from Ireland, daughter of Francis Eugene Harvey and herself a widow with one son who had for a while been governess to Simon's children. Lady Simon was an anti-slavery
activist and also involved in opposing antisemitism, supporting black civil rights in the USA, child welfare and the Salvation Army
. After her first marriage to Dr. Thomas Manning, she and her husband had moved to Tennessee and there she had encountered and been appalled by segregation; after his death and her return to Britain she joined the Anti-Slavery Society
. In 1929 she wrote a book, Slavery describing the current situation around the World and in particular as it still existed in the British Empire. She was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
in 1933. She died in 1955 aged 91.
Simon bought Fritwell Manor, Oxfordshire in 1911 and lived there until 1933.
Order of the Star of India
The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes:# Knight Grand Commander # Knight Commander # Companion...
GCVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
PC
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
(28 February 1873 – 11 January 1954) was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second. He is one of only three people to have served as Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
, the others being R.A. Butler
Rab Butler
Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, KG CH DL PC , who invariably signed his name R. A. Butler and was familiarly known as Rab, was a British Conservative politician...
and James Callaghan
James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC , was a British Labour politician, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980...
(Roy Jenkins
Roy Jenkins
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...
narrowly missed becoming the fourth, when Callaghan preferred Anthony Crosland
Anthony Crosland
Charles Anthony Raven Crosland , otherwise Tony Crosland or C.A.R. Crosland, was a British Labour Party politician and author. He served as Member of Parliament for South Gloucestershire and later for Great Grimsby...
to him as Foreign Secretary in 1976, despite Jenkins's well-known desire for the appointment). He also served as Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
, the most senior position in the British legal system. Beginning his career as a Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
, he joined the National Government in 1931, creating the Liberal National Party
National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)
The National Liberal Party, known until 1948 as the Liberal National Party, was a liberal political party in the United Kingdom from 1931 to 1968...
in the process. At the end of his career, he was essentially a Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
.
Background and education
Simon was the son of Edwin Simon (1843–1920), a Congregational minister in Manchester, and Fanny Allsebrook (1846–1936). Educated at Fettes CollegeFettes College
Fettes College is an independent school for boarding and day pupils in Edinburgh, Scotland with over two thirds of its pupils in residence on campus...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
and Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, located at the southern end of Parks Road in central Oxford. It was founded by Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, wealthy Somerset landowners, during the reign of King James I...
, where he was a near-contemporary of F.E. Smith and of the athlete C.B. Fry
C B Fry
Charles Burgess Fry, known as C. B. Fry was an English polymath; an outstanding sportsman, politician, diplomat, academic, teacher, writer, editor and publisher, who is best remembered for his career as a cricketer...
, he became a fellow of All Souls
All Souls College, Oxford
The Warden and the College of the Souls of all Faithful People deceased in the University of Oxford or All Souls College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England....
in 1897 and was called to the bar at the Inner Temple
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
in 1899.
Political career
Simon became a successful lawyer, and entered the House of Commons as a LiberalLiberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Walthamstow
Walthamstow (UK Parliament constituency)
Walthamstow is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- 1885–1918 :...
at the 1906 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1906
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
, later being elected for Spen Valley
Spen Valley (UK Parliament constituency)
Spen Valley was a parliamentary constituency in the valley of the River Spen in West Yorkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-History:...
. He entered the Government as Solicitor-General
Solicitor General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, often known as the Solicitor General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Attorney General, whose duty is to advise the Crown and Cabinet on the law...
in 1910, and advanced in 1913 to Attorney-General
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
, in both cases succeeding Rufus Isaacs
Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading
Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, GCB, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, PC, KC , was an English lawyer, jurist and politician...
; he was the leader of the (unsuccessful) Cabinet rebels against Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
's 1914 naval estimates, and contemplated resigning in protest at the declaration of war in 1914 but in the end did not do so.
In Asquith's
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC, KC served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916...
coalition government in May 1915, Simon became Home Secretary, declining an offer of the Lord Chancellorship, but resigned early the next year in protest against the illiberal introduction of conscription. He proved his patriotism by serving briefly as an officer on Trenchard
Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard GCB OM GCVO DSO was a British officer who was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force...
's staff in the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
.
After Asquith's fall in late 1916, Simon remained in opposition as an Asquithite Liberal until he lost his seat at the "Coupon Election" in 1918. In 1919 he attempted to return to Parliament at the Spen Valley by-election. Although the Coalition Liberals who had formerly held the seat were pushed into third place, Simon came second; in the view of Maurice Cowling
Maurice Cowling
Maurice John Cowling was a British historian and a Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge.-Life:Cowling was born in Norwood, South London, to a lower middle-class family. His family then moved to Streatham, where Cowling attended an LCC elementary school, and from 1937 the Battersea Grammar School...
his defeat by Labour marked the point at which Labour began to be seen as a serious threat by the older parties. During the early 1920s he practiced successfully at the Bar, before winning Spen Valley at the General Election in 1922, and in 1922-24 he was treated almost as deputy leader of the Liberal Party, a role he relinquished when Asquith once again lost his seat in Parliament and Lloyd George took over the chairmanship of the Liberal MPs. Unlike Lloyd George, Simon opposed the General Strike
1926 United Kingdom general strike
The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 May 1926 to 13 May 1926. It was called by the general council of the Trades Union Congress in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government to act to prevent wage reduction and worsening...
in 1926. Simon spoke for Newfoundland in a boundary dispute with Canada, before announcing his permanent retirement from the Bar, then from 1927 to 1931 he chaired the Simon Commission
Simon Commission
The Indian Statutory Commission was a group of seven British Members of Parliament that had been dispatched to India in 1927 to study constitutional reform in Britain's most important colonial dependency. It was commonly referred to as the Simon Commission after its chairman, Sir John Simon...
on India's constitution
Constitution of India
The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions, and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens...
.
During the late 1920s and especially during the 1929-31 Parliament, in which Labour had no majority but were allowed to continue in office by the Liberals, Simon was seen as the leader of the minority of Liberal MPs who disliked Lloyd George's inclination to support Labour rather than the Conservatives. In June 1931, before the formation of the National Government, Simon resigned the Liberal whip and was accused by Lloyd George of leaving "the slime of hypocrisy" as he crossed the floor.
National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)
The National Liberal Party, known until 1948 as the Liberal National Party, was a liberal political party in the United Kingdom from 1931 to 1968...
(later to become the National Liberals) who continued to support protectionism and Ramsay MacDonald's
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
National Government after the departure of the mainstream Liberals under Herbert Samuel. Simon was never opposed by a Conservative candidate at Spen Valley after 1924, and over time, Simon's Liberal Nationals became hardly distinguishable from the Conservatives, although some Conservative MPs continued to be known locally as "National Liberals" for decades after the Second World War.
Simon served as Foreign Secretary under MacDonald, highlights of his tenure of office being the repudiation by Germany, under its new chancellor Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, of the League of Nations and of Disarmament efforts, and the Japanese occupation of Manchuria. He attracted particular opprobrium for a speech in Geneva in December 1932, in which he failed explicitly to condemn Japanese actions.(Douglas Reed, 'All Our Tomorrows'pub.1942,pg.62 ~ Geneva, 1931, Sir John Simon congratulated by the Japanese emissary for presentation of Japan's case against China').
Simon then served as Home Secretary, during which time he passed the Public Order Act 1936
Public Order Act 1936
The Public Order Act 1936 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed to control extremist political movements in the 1930s such as the British Union of Fascists ....
restricting the activities of Oswald Mosley
Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
's Blackshirts, and Deputy Leader of the House of Commons
Leader of the House of Commons
The Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons...
under Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
and Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
under Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
, of whom he had become a close political ally.
Simon was cursed with an unfortunately chilly manner, and from at least 1914 onwards had difficulty in conveying an impression that he was acting from honourable motives. His awkward attempts to strike up friendships with his colleagues (e.g. asking his Cabinet colleagues to call him "Jack") often fell flat. Neville Chamberlain wrote of Simon: "I am always trying to like him, and believing I shall succeed when something crops up to put me off", while Harold Nicolson
Harold Nicolson
Sir Harold George Nicolson KCVO CMG was an English diplomat, author, diarist and politician. He was the husband of writer Vita Sackville-West, their unusual relationship being described in their son's book, Portrait of a Marriage.-Early life:Nicolson was born in Tehran, Persia, the younger son of...
described him more pithily as "a toad and a worm". Another anecdote from the late 1940s tells how the socialist intellectual G. D. H. Cole
G. D. H. Cole
George Douglas Howard Cole was an English political theorist, economist, writer and historian. As a libertarian socialist he was a long-time member of the Fabian Society and an advocate for the cooperative movement...
got into a third-class compartment on the train back from Oxford to London, to break off conversation with Simon; to his dismay Simon followed suit, only for both men to produce first class tickets when the inspector did his rounds.
By 1940 Simon, along with his successor as Foreign Secretary Sir Samuel Hoare, had come to be seen as one of the "Guilty Men" responsible for appeasement of the dictators ("the snakiest of the lot" in Hugh Dalton
Hugh Dalton
Edward Hugh John Neale Dalton, Baron Dalton PC was a British Labour Party politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1945 to 1947, when he was implicated in a political scandal involving budget leaks....
's description), and like Hoare his continued service in the War Cabinet was not regarded as acceptable in the new coalition. Simon was raised to the peerage as Viscount Simon
Viscount Simon
Viscount Simon, of Stackpole Elidor in the County of Pembroke, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1940 for the Liberal politician Sir John Simon. He was Home Secretary from 1915 to 1916 and 1935 to 1937, Foreign Secretary from 1931 to 1935, Chancellor of the...
, of Stackpole Elidor in the County of Pembroke, and became Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
in Churchill's
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
government, although he did not sit in the War Cabinet. In 1945 Churchill formed a brief "Caretaker" administration but once again excluded Simon from the Cabinet. After Churchill's defeat in 1945, Simon never held office again. Although he had won plaudits for his legal skills as Lord Chancellor, Attlee
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
declined to appoint him to the British delegation at the Nuremberg War Trials, telling him bluntly in a letter that his role in the pre-war governments made this unwise. In 1951 Churchill did not offer him a return to the Woolsack
Woolsack
The Woolsack is the seat of the Lord Speaker in the House of Lords, the Upper House of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From the Middle Ages until 2006, the presiding officer in the House of Lords was the Lord Chancellor and the Woolsack was usually mentioned in association with the office of...
. Simon's portrait (by Frank O. Salisbury
Frank O. Salisbury
Francis Owen Salisbury was an English Methodist artist from who specialised in portraits, large canvases of historical and ceremonial events, stained glass and book illustration. In his heyday he made a fortune on both sides of the Atlantic and was known as “Britain’s Painter Laureate”...
, 1944) is in the National Portrait Gallery.
In 1952 Simon published his memoirs, Retrospect, which Harold Nicolson reviewed as saying that he described the "nectarines and peaches of office" as if they were "a bag of prunes". The quote, "I so very tire of politics. The early death of too many a great man is attributed to her touch" is from Simon's memoir. After his death in 1954, Simon's estate was probated at £93,006.
Personal life
Lord Simon married Ethel Venables in June 1899 in HeadingtonHeadington
Headington is a suburb of Oxford, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames Valley below. The life of the large residential area is centred upon London Road, the main road between London and Oxford.-History:...
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, later to be vice-principal of St Hugh's Hall. They had three children - Margaret (Mrs. Geoffrey Edwards), Joan (Mrs. John Bickford-Smith) and John Gilbert, the 2nd Viscount Simon, (1902–1993). His first wife died soon after the birth of her son in September 1902. He remarried in 1917 Kathleen Rochard Manning (1863/4-1955) from Ireland, daughter of Francis Eugene Harvey and herself a widow with one son who had for a while been governess to Simon's children. Lady Simon was an anti-slavery
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
activist and also involved in opposing antisemitism, supporting black civil rights in the USA, child welfare and the Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
. After her first marriage to Dr. Thomas Manning, she and her husband had moved to Tennessee and there she had encountered and been appalled by segregation; after his death and her return to Britain she joined the Anti-Slavery Society
Anti-Slavery Society
The Anti-Slavery Society or A.S.S. was the everyday name of two different British organizations.The first was founded in 1823 and was committed to the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. Its official name was the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout the...
. In 1929 she wrote a book, Slavery describing the current situation around the World and in particular as it still existed in the British Empire. She was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1933. She died in 1955 aged 91.
Simon bought Fritwell Manor, Oxfordshire in 1911 and lived there until 1933.