{{other uses}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox person | image = Angorakatze Perserkatze Mary Francies Simpson.jpg | alt = | caption = Simpson in 1910 | birth_date = ca. 1857 | birth_place = Haughton-le-Skerne, County Durham, England | death_date = 19 January 1926 | death_place = Kensington, England | other_names = Possibly used pen names | occupation = {{hlist|non-fiction writer|journalist|cat show judge|cat breeder}} | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = {{hlist|''Cats and All about Them''|''The book of the cat''}} }} '''Frances Simpson''' (ca. 1857 – 1926) was an English writer, journalist, cat show judge, and cat breeder. She was a fervent supporter of blue Persians, which she promoted, notably by exhibiting her pair at the Crystal Palace,<ref name="1frwp">{{cite book |title=Every woman's encyclopaedia |year=1910 |location=London |via=Internet Archive |page=1295 |volume=2 |url=https://archive.org/details/everywomansencyc02londuoft/page/1292/mode/2up |access-date=4 December 2024 |language=en}} {{Source-attribution}}</ref> and for having written ''The Book of the Cat'' (1903).
==Early life== Census records show that Elizabeth Frances Ann Simpson was born in Haughton-le-Skerne, County Durham, England, around 1857. She was the third of six children born to the Reverend Robert James Simpson and his wife Mary Elizabeth, between 1853 and 1870. She was predeceased by her brother Robert Arthur, in 1853 and brother Harry W, in 1857, and followed by John Percy in 1861 and younger sisters Grace Helen Mary and Edith born in 1868 and 1870 respectively. Her father was listed as curate of Haughton-le-Skerne in the 1861 census.<ref name="4frwp">{{cite web |title=THE LIFE AND TIMES OF FRANCES SIMPSON |url=http://messybeast.com/bookshelf/simpson-lifetimes.htm |website=messybeast.com |access-date=4 December 2024 |language=en}}</ref> In 1871, when she was 14, it is highly likely that she was already residing with her family in London, as it is known from her writings that she attended the first and most famous Crystal Palace Cat Show, held in Sydenham, London, in July 1871, organized and judged by Harrison Weir, then aged 47.
==Career== thumb|left|Simpson in 1902 Simpson wrote numerous books and articles on cats, often used to trace feline history.<ref name="2frwp">{{cite book |last1=Simpson |first1=Frances |title=The book of the cat |date=1903 |publisher=London, Paris, New York, Melbourne, Cassell and company, limited |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofcatsimpson00simprich/bookofcatsimpson00simprich/ |access-date=4 December 2024 |language=en}} {{Source-attribution}}</ref> Simpson appears to have been subsidized mainly through her writing, including articles and commentaries in ''Fur and Feather'' and later, ''Our Cats'', but also by other publishers, undoubtedly presenting herself as a rising expert on domestic felines and their many varieties. As a young judge active on the cat and cat show scene, this helped give her credence. By this time, she had behind her a number of best-selling publications, one of which had been reprinted, and was regularly producing specialist speeches on breed varieties for periodicals, such as ''Every woman's encyclopaedia'',<ref name="5frwp">{{cite book |title=Every woman's encyclopaedia |date=1910 |location=London |page=813 |volume=1 |url=https://archive.org/details/everywomansencyc01londuoft/page/812/mode/2up |access-date=4 December 2024 |language=en |chapter=Simpson, Frances, "Woman's pets"}} {{Source-attribution}}</ref> in which she wrote about the manx,<ref name="6frwp">{{cite book |title=Every woman's encyclopaedia |date=1910 |location=London |page=4177 |volume=6 |url=https://archive.org/details/everywomansencyc06londuoft/page/4166/mode/2up |access-date=4 December 2024 |language=en |chapter=Simpson, Frances "Woman's pets : Manx Cats"}} {{Source-attribution}}</ref> Persian,<ref name="7frwp">{{cite book |title=Every woman's encyclopaedia |date=1910 |location=London |page=935 |volume=2 |url=https://archive.org/details/everywomansencyc02londuoft/page/934 |access-date=4 December 2024 |language=en |chapter=Simpson, Frances, "Silver Tabby Persians"}} {{Source-attribution}}</ref> and others. She may also have written for a number of years under pseudonyms.
thumb|''Cats and all about them'' thumb|''The book of the cat'' As a historian, she is cited for having seen the first cat shows at the Crystal Palace. Simpson was also a show director, a respected judge, and a mentor to new judges. Her books on cat breeding contained a wealth of advice on breeding, judging and show organization, as well as warnings to exhibitors who sent cats in unsuitable containers. She served on several club committees. She was a prolific writer and had an advice column in the weekly magazine ''Fur and Feather''. She made copies of pedigrees for other breeders, corresponding with cat lovers in Britain and North America. She also exported Persians and encouraged other breeders to do the same, to the U.S. where cat breeding was in its infancy and quality breeding stock commanded considerable sums. She was honorary secretary of most of the early cat clubs, including the Blue Persian Society and the National Cat Club.<ref name="3frwp">{{cite web |title=The History Project: Frances A. Simpson |url=http://www.cat-o-pedia.org/frances-simpson.html |website=cat-o-pedia.org |access-date=4 December 2024}}</ref>
==Personal life== She died in Kensington, on 19 January 1926, aged 68.<ref name="4frwp" />
==Selected works== * ''Cats and All about Them'' (1902) ([https://archive.org/details/catsallaboutthem00simprich text]) * ''The book of the cat'' (1903) ([https://archive.org/details/bookofcatsimpson00simprich text])
==See also== * Cat fancy
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== * {{Librivox author|id=19125}} * {{Gutenberg author |id=58391}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Elizabeth}} Category:1857 births Category:1926 deaths Category:English women non-fiction writers Category:20th-century English journalists Category:20th-century English women writers Category:British animal care and training writers Category:People from County Durham (before 1974) Category:People working with cats Category:Cat judges Category:Cat fanciers Category:Writers from County Durham Category:20th-century English women journalists