| AdminHistory | John Simon, born Jamaica, only son of Isaac Simon, a Jewish merchant and landed proprietor, and his wife Rebecca, ne Orobio, 1818; educated at a public school in Jamaica; moved to England, 1833 and continued his education at a private school in Liverpool, where he lived with his uncle Abraham Abraham and became friends with Reform minister and Hebrew scholar, David Woolf Marks, who taught him Hebrew; studied at University College London; LLB, London University, 1841; helped Marks compose the prayer book of the West London Synagogue, 1841; called to the bar, the second professing Jew to be admitted, 1842; practised in Jamaica, 1842-1845; married Rachel Salaman, 1843; two surviving sons and three daughters; returned to England, 1845, and became a leader on the common-law side on the northern circuit; as junior counsel he successfully defended Simon Bernard from the accusation of complicity with Orsini in the attempt to assassinate Napoleon III, 1858; assistant to the judges of the county courts, 1858; President of the City of London court;appointed serjeant-at-law, 1864; Commissioner of Assize for Manchester, 1867; QC, 1868; the first Jew to practise at the common law bar and exercise the functions of a judge; Liberal member of Parliament for Dewsbury, 1868-1888; introduced the Oaths Bill, 1880-1883, allowing for an affirmation to be given by those who objected to taking an oath; spoke extensively on the government of Jamaica, 1884, and played an important part in the restoration of representative government; championed the cause of oppressed Jewry throughout the world in the House of Commons, became known as "the member for Jewry"; organized the Mansion House meeting to protest against the persecution of Jews in Romania and Serbia, 1870; founder of the Anglo-Jewish Association, 1871; knighted, 1886; member of the Reform Club; amateur pianist; died 1897. Rachel Simon, born 1823, fifth daughter of Simeon Kensington Salaman, clothing supplier to the army and warden of the Western Synagogue; writer; died 1899. Publications include: 'Records and Reflections' (1894). |