Thomas Simpson was an English stage actor of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. His surname is sometimes written as Sympson. He joined the

United Company The United Company was a London theatre company formed in 1682 with the merger of the King's Company and the Duke's Company. Both the Duke's and King's Companies suffered poor attendance during the turmoil of the Popish Plot period, 1678–8 ...

from the 1687–88 season, but his early roles are unknown. Following the 1695 split he stayed at

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the boundary between the Covent Garden and Holborn areas of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of London Borough of Camden, Camden and the southern part in the City o ...

with Christopher Rich's company and acted in a number of roles until 1702. From 1703 he William Bullock and William Pinkethman operated a theatrical stall at

Bartholomew Fair The Bartholomew Fair was one of London's pre-eminent summer charter fairs. A charter for the fair was granted by King Henry I to fund the Priory of St Bartholomew in 1133. It took place each year on 24 August (St Bartholomew's Day) within the p ...

.Highfill, Burnim & Langhans p.96

Selected roles

* King in '' Agnes de Castro'' by Catherine Trotter (1695) * Hottman '' Oroonoko'' by

Thomas Southerne Thomas Southerne (12 February 166026 May 1746) was an Irish dramatist. Biography Thomas Southerne, born on 12 February 1660, in Oxmantown, near Dublin, was an Irish dramatist. He was the son of Francis Southerne (a Dublin brewer) and Margare ...

(1695) * Curio in '' Neglected Virtue'' by Charles Hopkins (1696) * Mufti in ''

Ibrahim, the Thirteenth Emperor of the Turks ''Ibrahim, the Thirteenth Emperor of the Turks'' is a she-tragedy written by Mary Pix, first performed in 1696. Pix's first play, it purported to describe incidents in the life of Ibrahim, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The numbering is correct ...

'' by

Mary Pix Mary Pix (1666 – 17 May 1709) was an English novelist and playwright. As an admirer of Aphra Behn and colleague of Susanna Centlivre, Pix has been called "a link between women writers of the Stuart Restoration, Restoration and Augustan litera ...

(1696) * Don Leon in '' The Campaigners'' by Thomas D'Urfey (1698) * Governor in ''

Love Makes a Man ''Love Makes A Man; Or, The Fop's Fortune'' is a comedy play by the English writer Colley Cibber written and first performed in 1700, and first published in 1701. It borrows elements from two Jacobean plays '' The Elder Brother'' and ''The Custo ...

'' by

Colley Cibber Colley Cibber (6 November 1671 – 11 December 1757) was an English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir ''An Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber'' (1740) describes his life in ...

(1700) * Armando in '' The Perjured Husband'' by

Susanna Centlivre Susanna Centlivre (c. 1669 (baptised) – 1 December 1723), born Susanna Freeman, and also known professionally as Susanna Carroll, was an English poet, actress, and "the most successful female playwright of the eighteenth century". Centlivre's ...

(1700) * Neoptolemus in ''

The Virgin Prophetess ''The Virgin Prophetess, or The Fate of Troy'' is a 1701 tragedy by Elkanah Settle featuring music by Gottfried Finger. It is a semi-opera with masque-like elements breaking up the scenes. The original cast included John Mills as Menelaus, Phil ...

'' by

Elkanah Settle Elkanah Settle (1 February 1648 – 12 February 1724) was an English poet and playwright. Biography He was born at Dunstable, and entered Trinity College, Oxford, in 1666, but left without taking a degree. His first tragedy, '' Cambyses, King ...

(1701) * Du Law in ''

The Unhappy Penitent ''The Unhappy Penitent'' is a 1701 tragedy by the English writer Catherine Trotter.Nicoll p.361 It is set at the French court of the late fifteenth century where Charles VIII plans to break his marriage agreement with Margaret of Austria so th ...

'' by Catherine Trotter (1701) * Lord Bellamy in '' Sir Harry Wildair'' by

George Farquhar George Farquhar (1677The explanation for the dual birth year appears in Louis A. Strauss, ed., A Discourse Upon Comedy, The Recruiting Officer, and The Beaux' Stratagem by George Farquhar' (Boston: D.C. Heath & Co., 1914), p. v. Strauss notes t ...

(1701) * Meroan in '' The Generous Conqueror'' by Bevil Higgons (1701) * Neoptolemus in ''

'' by

(1701) * Uberto in '' The Patriot'' by

Charles Gildon Charles Gildon (c. 1665 – 1 January 1724), was an English hack writer and translator. He produced biographies, essays, plays, poetry, fictional letters, fables, short stories, and criticism. He is remembered best as a target of Alexander Pope ...

(1702) * Mendez in '' All for the Better'' by Francis Manning (1702)

References

Bibliography

* Highfill, Philip H, Burnim, Kalman A. & Langhans, Edward A. ''A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers, and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800: Volume 14''. SIU Press, 1978. English male stage actors 17th-century English male actors 18th-century English male actors Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown {{England-actor-stub