The Simons of Manchester

Abstract

This book revives the lives and public work of two generations of the Simon family who, over a period of more than a century (1860–1970), had a powerful influence in shaping modern Manchester. It uses a combination of collective biography and thematic essays to rehabilitate and reappraise their lives, and to consider their various individual and collective contributions to society, locally and nationally. As well as focusing on four key individuals (Henry and Emily, Ernest and Shena), the core aim of the book is to study the family as a cross-generational unit and thereby elucidate how their work was shaped a distinctive family ethos of public service. Central to forming this family ethos was the Simons’ German ancestry and their deep connection with Manchester’s German community. To contextualise this link, the studies of the Simon family in the book are foregrounded by an overview of Manchester’s nineteenth century German diaspora.