"My heart is heavy over my work" Read the full letter

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Sir John Simon

Sir John Simon (1873 - 1954) was a British lawyer and politician. In 1913, he was Attorney-General and then became Home Secretary at the start of the First World War. Although not a pacifist, Simon was opposed to conscription on general libertarian grounds and he resigned in early 1916 when conscription was passed into law. After his resignation, Simon served in the Royal Flying Corps. He failed to be re-elected in 1918 and 1919, around opposition from Lloyd George. His later political career was distinguished

As part of gathering support for Simon’s opposition to the Bill in question, and probably organised by Bertrand Russell, petitions were organised including via a set of ’prominent  people’, including Olive Schreiner, meeting withSimon in the House of Commons to make known their opposition to the measure and support for him. A jointly signed letter from them appeared in The Times.

For further information see
D. J. Dutton (2004) ‘Simon, John Allsebrook, first Viscount Simon (1873-1954)’ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36098
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collection icon Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin: The HRC, Austin, is one of the world leading locations for archival papers pertaining to literary life and manuscripts across... Show/Hide Collection Letters
collection icon Macfarlane-Muirhead Family: Schreiner’s letters to Robert Muirhead are part of Macfarlane-Muirhead family collection and can be accessed at the Mui... Show/Hide Collection Letters
collection icon Newspapers: A collection of letters sent to various newspapers Show/Hide Collection Letters
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