Dr Edward Simpson, BSc, PhD (died 5 February 2019, aged 96)
Full obituary available in The Daily Telegraph
Edward Simpson was born in London on 10 December 1922 to father Hugh, an engineer in the Army. Edward spent his early years in Belgium, where his father was working for the Imperial War Graves Commission. On moving to Northern Ireland, Edward studied at Coleraine Academical Institute excelling in both French and Mathematics. He went on to study Mathematics at Queen’s and graduated with a First Class Degree in 1942, aged only 19.
Following graduation, Edward went to work at Bletchley Park, helping to decipher both Italian and Japanese naval codes during World War 2. It was during his time at Bletchley Park that Edward met Rebecca Gibson, fellow Queen’s graduate, whom he went on to marry in 1947.
Edward undertook further study in Mathematics at Christ’s College, Cambridge where he was awarded an hononary doctorate and a civil service career followed in a number of ministerial departments in the British Government, in particular the Department of Education and Science. He was also awarded a LLD from the University of Hull in 1992.
Elected a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society in 1946, in 1976 he was appointed Companion of the Bath (CB).
His publications include a chapter in The Bletchley Park Codebreakers, edited by Ralph Erskine and Michael Smith.
Edward is survived by his two children and four grandchildren.
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