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Lord John Simon Archive -This archive is an important record of both Jamaican and Jewish life of the period. It is comprised first as a series of 153 letters (1836-1844) to Sir John Simon… from family members and friends living in various locations in Jamaica, , England, and Cuba. They are written to John while in Jamacia (1837-38???) and in England). The purpose of this single entry in Collectify is as a preamble only...no items are referenced under this entry. Under Provenance and Expertise are various reference Documents Each letter in the archive will be listed in Collectify under a separate Cross-Reference number and related Reference No., however with minimum detail...Location, Persons, and date. When available in Colenda it will have the corresponding readable photo of the letter. Correspondents include his father, also a lawyer, his sisters, Caroline & Frances, his Aunt Sarah& Uncle Abraham Abraham & their son Phineas Abraham . Additionally, gentile friends in Jamacia and England and others. Many of the letters are 4 pages in length, and describe life, and its ups and downs for a Jewish family living in Jamaica. Importantly there are 10 detailed letters from Rev. Nathans (before his migration to New Orleans in1850). Rev. Nathans was an important correspondent with Rev. Isaac Leeser of Philadelphia. These ten letters may be the only existent letters written by Nathan while in Jamaica, other than those written to Leeser. There are also four letter by the early Jewish authoress, Celia Moss. In addition to the individal letters, there is a 137 page letter book (1898) wriiten by Lady Simon at the time of his death...they are excerts of letters that he had witter to her (183x-1840x) Caroline Simon to John...05/17/1837 thru 5/27/1843................ 44 letters Francis Simon to John...06/10/1838 thru 5/30/1843................27 letters Sarah Abraham to John...xxxxx/1836 thru 1/25/1843................12 letters Rabbi Nathan to John......09/06/1838 thru 07/02/1843................10 letters Abraham Abraham to John...12/07/1837 thru 11/13/1842.........16 letters Phineas Abraham to John......08/28/1838 thru 05/30/1843.........14 letters W. J. Marshall to John.............06/06/1838 thru 06/29/1843...........6 letters William N. Ashby to John......11/1837 thru 10/22/1838.................5 letters Celia Moss to John..................07/12/1839 thru 05/14/1840...........5 letters Joseph Wright to John............12/04/1837 thru 01/02/1841...........3 letters R. W. Buchanan to John..........07/17/1838 thru 10/25/1841..........4 letters Unknown #1 same writer to John....1842 thru 1843.......................3 letters John Simon (a cousin), to John.......1841 thru 1842.......................2 letters Isaac Simon (His father) to John.......08/18/1842.............................1 letter Rachael Simon (His mother) to John.......11/16/1840.....................1 letter A second part of the archive, is Lady Rachel Simon's personal notebook of some 182ff. contains some 312 copy letters from John to her (excerpts that she deemed meaningful to herself). It covers the period 1840-46, which includes the period 1843-45 which they spent in Jamaica with when they returned to the West Indies. He talks of his working & social life, and his feelings for wife, Rachel. This notebook was written in the late 1890's upon Sir John Simon's death. It includes a clipping of his obituary. Found in the Letterbook was a letter from John Bright, MP to Mrs. Simon and Sir John Simon was an English sergeant at law and politician and important figure in Jewish affairs.born in Jamaica Dec. 9, 1818; died in London June 24, 1897. In 1828, the fourteen-year-old, John Simon, travelled from his birthplace in Jamaica to live with his relative Abraham Abraham. Our instrument maker took care of his relative's education, arranging tutors and continue his education at a general school in Liverpool. He studied Hebrew by himself with the view of becoming a rabbi, his object being to initiate a religious reform movement. His father, however, refused his consent to Simon's plans. Simon was graduated from the University of London in 1841; was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1842; and was the first Jew to practice at the common-law bar, Sir Francis Goldsmid, who had preceded him, practicing at the chancery bar. Simon married in 1843 Rachel, fifth daughter of S. K. Salaman of London, and sister of the musical composer Charles Salaman. Later she was the author of "Records and Reflections." Simon spent the first two years of his married life in Jamaica, where he at once commenced to practice his profession in Spanish Town, then the seat of government. He left the island in 1845 because the climate injured his wife's health, and within a few years of their return to England he became a successful leader of the northern circuit, and soon won distinction in the superior courts in London. In 1858, Simon acted as assistant to the judges of county courts, thus being the first English Jew who exercised the functions of a judge. Simon was elected to Parliament in Nov., 1868, from the borough of Dewsbury in the West Riding of Yorkshire. He was reelected in 1874, 1880, 1885, and 1886, and sat continuously for twenty years, retiring in Nov., 1888, owing to failing health. Although he had not a single Jewish elector in his constituency, he was regarded as the "Member for Jewry." In the House of Commons Simon exercised considerable influence with regard to the amendment of the judicature, the alteration of the law which regulated the trial of election petitions being due to his initiative. The resolution adopted Feb. 23, 1875, calling for the appointment of two judges instead of one to conduct such trials, was also the result of his activity. Simon was knighted in 1886. Work for Jewish Emancipation ….Before the British Parliament was open to Jews, Simon stood in the front rank of those who fought for their civil and political emancipation. That battle won, he availed himself of every opportunity to vindicate the cause of oppressed and persecuted Jews throughout the world. Again and again he caused blue books relating to the condition of the Jews in Rumania, Morocco, Russia, and Servia to be laid before Parliament; and after the death of Sir Francis Goldsmid, M.P. (1878), he became the recognized champion of his race before Parliament and the British public. When the knowledge reached England of the persecution of the Jews in Russia in 1881 and 1882 Simon conceived and carried into effect the idea of securing a protest from the entire English people. Within three weeks he had so aroused the feelings of the public men to whom he had personally submitted the issues, that a requisition, signed by the highest representatives in England, was presented to the lord mayor; and a meeting was convened on Feb. 1, 1882. The only Jewish speakers at this meeting were the present Lord Rothschild (then Sir Nathaniel de Rothschild, M.P.) and Sergeant Simon, who respectively moved and seconded the vote of thanks to the lord mayor. Similar meetings were convened in no less than forty-two cities and towns of England, Scotland, and Ireland under the presidency of the local mayors; and a protest from the University of Oxford, signed by the vice-chancellor, the heads of colleges, the leading professors, and hundreds of graduates, was addressed to the chief rabbi. In 1890, when the persecutions in Russia were renewed, Simon, who was then in somewhat failing health, took similar steps through the instrumentality of his son, Oswald John Simon (born 1855; educated at Balliol College, Oxford; member of the Russo-Jewish Committee and author of "World and Cloister" and "Faith and Experience"). In accordance with Sir John's plan a second requisition, signed by all the surviving signers of the first one, and by many others, was presented to the lord mayor, and a meeting was held at the Guildhall on Dec. 10, 1890, which was no less successful than the first one. Simon was one of the founders of the Anglo-Jewish Association, which was formed in London in 1871 to cooperate with the Alliance Israélite Universelle of Paris. He was identified with the Reform Synagogue of London from its inception in 1842.
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