# Les Simpson

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{{About|the Australian farmer and soldier|American TV series|The Simpsons}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Use Australian English|date=December 2015}}
'''Hugh Leslie Simpson''' [CBE](/source/Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) (3 October 1894 – 7 June 1968) was an Australian farmer and soldier-settlement administrator.

Simpson was born at [Birchip](/source/Birchip%2C_Victoria) in [Victoria](/source/Victoria_(Australia)) to bookseller Albert Edward Simpson and Ellen, ''née'' Campbell. He attended local state schools and received his secondary education at [Ballarat](/source/Ballarat%2C_Victoria) and [Stawell](/source/Stawell%2C_Victoria) before working on the family farm. During [World War I](/source/World_War_I) he enlisted in the [Australian Imperial Force](/source/First_Australian_Imperial_Force) (30 June 1915), serving on the [Western Front](/source/Western_Front_(World_War_I)) in the [5th Battalion](/source/5th_Battalion_(Australia)) from March 1916. A [lieutenant](/source/lieutenant), he was badly wounded in August 1918. After the war he returned to farming and on 1 March 1924 married nurse Barbara Catherine Jane Catto at [St Kilda](/source/St_Kilda%2C_Victoria).<ref name=adb>{{Cite web
  | last = Smallwood
  | first = Rosalind
  | title = Simpson, Hugh Leslie (1894-1968)
  | work = [Australian Dictionary of Biography](/source/Australian_Dictionary_of_Biography)
  | publisher = [Australian National University](/source/Australian_National_University)
  | year = 2002
  | url = https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/simpson-hugh-leslie-11697
  | access-date = 12 December 2011}}</ref>

In 1934 Simpson was elected chief president of the Victorian Wheatgrowers' Association and the following year won the equivalent position in the federal body, serving until 1936. He was a [Wycheproof Shire](/source/Shire_of_Wycheproof) councillor from 1932 to 1946 and was chief president of the [United Country Party](/source/United_Country_Party_(Australia)) from 1938 to 1940 and in 1944. He unsuccessfully contested the federal seat of [Wimmera](/source/Division_of_Wimmera) in 1934 and the state seat of [Walhalla](/source/Electoral_district_of_Walhalla) in 1943. From 1935 to 1946 he sat on the Victorian Farmers' Debts Adjustment Board, serving as chairman from 1941 to 1946; he advised the federal prices commissioner during [World War II](/source/World_War_II) and received appointments from state and federal [Labor](/source/Australian_Labor_Party) governments. In 1946 he was appointed inaugural chairman of the Soldier Settlement Commission (SSC).<ref name=adb/>

Under Simpson's leadership, the SSC had considerable independence from government and successfully coordinated the organisation of returned servicemen's grants; 6000 soldiers were placed on farms. He retired in 1963 and was appointed [Commander of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire). In 1968 he died at [Hampton](/source/Hampton%2C_Victoria) in [Melbourne](/source/Melbourne); the township of [Simpson](/source/Simpson%2C_Victoria), near [Cobden](/source/Cobden%2C_Victoria), is named for him.<ref name=adb/>

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Les}}
Category:1894 births
Category:1968 deaths
Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Category:20th-century Australian farmers
Category:Australian Presbyterians
Category:Farmers from Victoria (state)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Les Simpson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Simpson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Simpson?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.