Social Victorians/People/Alice Isabel Simpson

Also Known As

• Family name: Simpson

Amy (Alice Isabel) Simpson

• Mrs. Alice Isabel Simpson (Küntz 211)
• Golden Dawn motto: Perseverantia Et Cura Quies (P.E.C.Q.) (Alastor) — "Perseverance and care for rest"; "Peace through perseverance and care" (Küntz 211)

Alice Beatrice Simpson

• Alice Beatrice Simpson
• Golden Dawn motto: Sans Peur et Sans Reproche — "Without fear and without blame" (Küntz 211)

Elaine Simpson

• Miss Elaine Mary Simpson
• Soror Fidelis
• Golden Dawn motto: Donorum Dei Dispensatio Fidelis (D.D.D.F.) — "God distributes his gifts faithfully" (Alastor; Küntz 211)

Demographics

• Nationality:

Residences

• 1888– St John the Evangelist Baillieston, in the east end of Glasgow (Davis; 1891 Census)
• 1895 — 15 Randolph Road, London
• Alice Isabel Simpson: Lived in or near London (12 July 1895 and 27 May 1899)
• Elaine Simpson: Living in or near London (18 January 1897 and 18 March 1899)
• Alice Beatrie Simpson: Lived in or near London (4 September 1899)

Family

• Amy (Alice Isabel) Hall Simpson (1853-?)
• Rev. William Simpson (c. 1829 – 1894 or 1895?)

1. Alice Beatrice Simpson (February 1875 – )
2. Elaine Mary Simpson Witkowski (August? 1877 – )
3. Arthur (William Arthur John) Simpson (August 1886 – )

Friends and Acquaintances

• Aleister Crowley
• G. C. Jones
• Col. Webber
• Edward Berridge

Organizations

• Beatrice: Cheltenham Ladies’ College ()
• The Isis-Urania Temple of the Golden Dawn, Inner Order

Timeline

1873 or 1874, Amy (Alice Isabel) Hall and William Simpson married (Davis).

1895 July 12, Amy Simpson joined the Golden Dawn, the Isis-Urania Temple (Küntz 211).

1897 January 18, Elaine Simpson joined the Golden Dawn, the Isis-Urania Temple (Küntz 211).

1899 March 18, Elaine Simpson joined the Inner Order of the Golden Dawn (Küntz 211).

1899 May 27, Amy Simpson joined the Inner Order of the Golden Dawn (Küntz 211).

1899 June, Beatrice Simpson's acting debut in One of the Best, at the Princess’s Theatre (Davis).

1899 September 4, Alice Beatrice Simpson joined the Golden Dawn, the Isis-Urania Temple (Küntz 211).

1900 March 29, the London Adepti called "a general meeting of the Second Order for March 29th. At this general meeting the Second Order voted, with only five exceptions, to depose their Chief from his headship and to expel him from the Order. ["According to another account Mathers was only deposed at this meeting and was not expelled until April 19th" (n. 6).]" (King 89 69). King describes the "five exceptions": "The Five who remained loyal to Mathers were Frater Resurgam (Dr. Berridge), Frater Volo Noscere (G. C. Jones), Soror Perseverantia et Cura Quies (Mrs. Amy Simpson), Soror Fidelis (Miss Elaine Simpson), and rather surprisingly, Fater Non Sine Numine (Col. Webber). With the exception of Webber and Berridge all these were personal friends of [Aleister] Crowley" (King 89 69, n. 5).

1900 April 8, Aleister Crowley visited Amy Simpson and Elaine Simpson at home before he left for Paris to visit Macgregor Mathers and be initiated into the Inner Order of the Golden Dawn (Davis).

1900 April 16, Crowley was back in London and visited the Simpsons (Davis).

1900 June 12, Elaine Simpson and Paul Witkowski married at St Saviour’s, Paddington (Davis).

Questions and Notes

1. "According to [Crowley's] The Confessions, it was Alice Isabel who told Crowley the reason why the London 2nd Order members had voted to refuse to initiate him; which was, that the 2nd Order suspected him of using the sex act to gain magical power - a well-known magical technique but a deeply controversial subject within the GD" (Davis). Davis doubts it, but I think one of the groups working within the Order was focused on sex, led I believe by Berridge.
2. At least one of the Simpsons were involved in Crowley's attempt to take the premises; get that story for this page.

Bibliography

• Davis, Sally. "Alice Isabel Simpson." http://www.wrightanddavis.co.uk/GD/SIMPSONALICEI.htm (accessed July 2020).