Frances Simpson

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, 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. 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

Simpson wrote numerous books and articles on cats, often used to trace feline history. 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, in which she wrote about the manx, Persian, and others. She may also have written for a number of years under pseudonyms.