Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 52.djvu/275

 SIMON SUDBURY (d. 1381), archbishop of Canterbury. [See ]

 SIMON (fl. 1512–1529), was author of a quaint little treatise of devotion, illustrated with woodcuts and printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1514, second edition 1530. The book consists of prayers and meditations upon our Saviour's life and death, and is entitled ‘The Fruyte of Redemcyon.’ It concludes as follows: ‘O all ye servantes of God … of your charitie praye for the Anker of London wall wretched Symon, that … hath compyled this mater in englysshe for your ghostly conforte that understande no latyn.’ Both editions are in the British Museum.

An account-book of the churchwardens of Allhallows on London Wall, covering the period (with several breaks) between 1456 and 1536, mentions Simon as one of a succession of anchorites or ‘ankers’ who occupied an apartment in the church, probably on the site of the present vestry, which is a semicircular chamber built on and forming part of the old London Wall. Simon and his predecessors enjoyed a great reputation for sanctity, and the offerings and gifts which they received must have been considerable. The anchorites appear throughout these accounts as liberal donors both to the regular expenses and the extraordinary necessities of the church of Allhallows. Simon's name first appears in the account for 1512, when he held ‘in redy money for the chorche, 25s.’ In the following year the churchwardens ‘receyved of the ankyr Syr Symon of the gaynes of a stande of ale whiche he gave to the cherche iiijs vjd. ob’ [i.e. 4s. 6½d.].

In a list of moneys lent by principal parishioners ‘Master Anker’ comes first with 32s. and is followed by ‘master parson,’ who lends 40s. The relations of the ‘Anker’ with the regular clergy and the parish at large were most amicable, and doubtless of mutual benefit. In 1529 Simon gave 32s. towards the new aisle then being built in the church. An inventory of the church goods records the gift by the ‘Anker’ of a great pax with three images of silver and a chalice given by ‘Sr. Symon Anker’ in 1522. The volume breaks off before the mention of Simon's death.

[The account-book of the parish of Allhallows, London Wall, edited by the present writer for the London and Middlesex Archæological Society.]  SIMON (1530?–1606), Welsh bard. [See ]

 SIMON, ABRAHAM (1622?–1692?), medallist, born about 1622, was the son of Peter and Anne Simon, and elder brother of Thomas Simon [q. v.], the well-known medallist. He was educated with a view to the church, but, being a skilful modeller in wax, he devoted himself to art. During a visit to Sweden he made portraits in wax of several eminent persons, and was given a position at the court of Queen Christina, who employed him as her agent in procuring works of art, and presented him with a gold medal and chain. In his wax-model portrait of himself he appears wearing this decoration, and Horace Walpole said he was supposed to have been in love with the queen. He attended her on her visit to Louis XIII, and, on account of his odd appearance, was arrested as a suspicious person while trying to model the king from the gallery of the royal chapel. He subsequently worked for some time in Holland.

He came to England in 1642 or later, and for several years was much employed in making medals and wax models of leading parliamentarians and others. He also made a large number of wax models (some now in the British Museum) for the portrait medals executed by his brother, Thomas Simon. His own medals are cast and chased, and are signed A. S. They are graceful and simple in treatment, but, being usually in low relief and of small module, seem occasionally deficient in vigour.

After the Restoration, Simon modelled the portrait of Charles II at the price of one hundred ‘broads.’ The Duke of York afterwards had his portrait done by him, but only proposed to pay him fifty broads. Simon then took up the wax model, and in the duke's presence deliberately defaced it. By this conduct he lost favour at court, and other sitters complained of his impatience when they offered any criticism of his work. In the later years of his life he seems to have received no further commissions, and he died in obscurity, and perhaps in poverty, about 1692. He was married, and had two daughters named Anne and Judith.

Simon's portrait was painted by Sir Peter Lely and Sir Godfrey Kneller. Of Lely's portrait there is a mezzotint by Blooteling. There is, in the British Museum, a portrait in wax of Simon by himself, and from this original a chased medal was made by Stuart circ. 1750. Simon was a little man, ‘of a primitive philosophic aspect,’ and always wore his hair and beard long. His eccentric dress excited derision in the street, but he was an excellent artist, and a man of the same independent character as Benedetto