SIMEON, CHARLES, 1759-1836.
Letter to Mr. Aspland, 1821.

MANUSCRIPT NUMBER 311

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CITATION:  Charles Simeon letter, MSS 311, Archives and Manuscripts Dept., Pitts Theology Library, Emory University.  

Charles Simeon, born in Reading on 24 September 1759, was the fourth son of Richard Simeon and Elizabeth Hutton. While a student at King's College, Cambridge, he experienced a dramatic conversion on Easter Day, 1779. After earning his BA, he was ordained on 28 September 1783.

Simeon called himself a "moderate Calvinist," but was influenced by the Evangelical movement. As vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Cambridge, he was known for giving classes in sermon composition and delivery for future clergymen. In 1812 he became known as well for his weekly conversation parties on Friday evenings. He held several posts at the university, including dean, bursar, and vice-provost. Simeon was one of the founders of the Church Missionary Society in 1797 and supported the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Religious Tract Society, the Colonial and Continental Church Society, and the Church Mission to the Jews.

Simeon died at King's College on 13 November 1836, and was buried in its chapel.

(Source of biography: Leonard W. Cowie, 'Simeon, Charles (1759-1836)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/25559, accessed 8 June 2005]

This collection consists of a letter from Charles Simeon dated 14 June 1821. It is addressed to "Rev. Mr. Aspland" and concerns the payment of an annuity.