532 Sir John Simeon

Constituency : Isle  of  Wight  1847-51, 1865-70

John  replaced  Charles  Clifford  on  the  Isle  of  Wight.

John  was   a  baronet  from  the  Isle  of  Wight  and  a  local  landowner. He  was  educated  at  Oxford.  He  joined  the navy. In  1848  he  joined  the  management  committee  of  the  Canterbury  Association  with  the  aim  of starting  an  Anglican  community  in  New  Zealand. He  gave  it  some  financial  support. He  opposed Jewish  emancipation. In  1851  he resigned  his  seat   and  his  position  in  the  C.A. as  a  result  of converting  to  Catholicism.

At  the  time  of  his  re-election  in  1865  John  was  the  only  Catholic  member  for  an  English constituency.

In  1870  John  was  seriously  ill  but  went  to  the  Commons  to  speak  against  the  rabidly  anti-Catholic Charles  Newdegate's   motion  for  the  state  inspection  of  convents. He  burst  a  blood  vessel  in  his throat  as  a  result. He  set  out  for  Switzerland   to  recuperate  but  died  en  route  aged  55.