Field Marshal Sir John Linton Arabin Simmons, GCB, GCMG

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Sir John Lintorn Arabin Simmons, GCB GCMG (February 12, 1821 – February 14, 1903), British Field Marshal, was the fifth son of Captain Thomas Frederick Simmons, Royal Artillery of Langford, Somerset.

From the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, he was commissioned into the Royal Engineers and completed the young officer's course at the Royal Engineer Establishment in Chatham

Inspector of Railways

After serving in the British North American colonies in Canada from 1839 to 1845, he was promoted to Captain upon his return to England. He was appointed Inspector of Railways in 1847 and then Secretary of the Railways Commission in 1850. He investigated many railway accidents, pehaps the most famous of which was the Dee bridge disaster in 1847. His report blamed the cast iron girders for the accident, which killed five passengers and crew. The accident was highly significant at the time because it had been designed by Robert Stephenson. Many other bridges built to the same design had to be demolished and replaced. In 1851 he became the first Secretary of the Railway Department under the Board of Trade.

[edit] Military Career

In 1853, whilst on leave from his role with the Board of Trade, he was in Constantinople when Turkey declared war on Russia. The British Ambassador took up Simmons’ offer of his services, requesting that he report on Turkish defences and their ability to resist a Russian advance. Upon expiry of his "leave", he resigned his post with the Board of Trade, enabling him to remain in Turkey.

Serving firstly as British Military Representative to the Omar Pasha, he was later confirmed as British Commissioner with the Turkish Army, in the local rank of Lieutenant Colonel, seeing out the Crimean War (1854-56) in this role.

Serving in the Foreign Office as Consul General in Warsaw, he returned to England at the end of 1860 and re-joined the Royal Engineers firstly as Commanding Royal Engineer at Aldershot and later as Director of the Royal Engineer Establishment in Chatham.

Sir John Lintorn Arabin Simmons by Carlo Pellegrini, 1877.Promoted to Major General in 1868, he became Lieutenant-Governor of the Royal Military Academy in March 1869, soon to be appointed Governor. Created KCB in June 1869, he was promoted to Lieutenant General and appointed Colonel Commandant of the Royal Engineers in 1872.

He held the post of Inspector General of Fortifications from 1875 to 1880 and was promoted to General in 1877 and, the next year, he was given the GCB.

As Governor of Malta from 1884 to 1888, he oversaw significant constitutional and social changes on the island. Awarded the GCMG in 1887, he left Malta when, at the age of 67, he retired from the army. The Foreign Office continued to utilise his services and in 1889 he went to Rome as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Pope Leo XIII.

In 1890 he received the Grand Cordon of the Order of Medjidieh by the Sultan of Turkey[1], and was promoted to Field Marshal of the British Army.

He retired to Hawley, near Blackwater, and died on 14 February 1903.

He was the maternal grandfather of Rotha Lintorn-Orman, the leader of the British Fascists.

http://www.remuseum.org.uk/biography/rem_bio_simmons.htm

John Lintorn Arabin Simmons was born on 12 February 1821. He entered the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich, was commissioned into the Royal Engineers on 14 December 1837 and passed through the young officer's course at the Royal Engineer Establishment in Chatham (now the Royal School of Military Engineering), it was at that time under the command of its founder, Colonel (later General) Sir Charles Pasley.

His first posting was to Canada in 1839 and he was stationed for nearly six years in the British North American Colonies. During this time he was involved in frontier disputes and in the construction of defence fortifications.

Returning to England in 1845 he was promoted to Captain and in 1847 was appointed as Inspector of Railways under the Railway Commissioners, succeeding to the position of Secretary of the Commission in 1850.

Field Marshal Sir John Lintorn Simmons GCB, GCMG

When the Commission was disbanded in the following year its responsibilities were handed over to the Board of Trade, with Simmons as the first Secretary of the Railway Department.

After two years in this post he obtained leave in 1853 to travel in Eastern Europe where relations between Russia and Turkey were becoming strained. While in Constantinople, Turkey declared war on Russia and Simmons immediately offered his services to the British Ambassador who requested him to report on the Turkish defences and on the condition and ability of the Ottoman army to resist a Russian advance.

Having completed this satisfactorily, the Ambassador asked him to inspect and report on the defences of the Bosphorous. Clearly, Simmons was being drawn into this conflict and when, on the expiry of his "leave" he was ordered by the Board of Trade to return to London, he resigned immediately and remained in Turkey, under the orders of the Ambassador, who wanted him to serve as British Military Representative to the Omar Pasha.

In February 1854, England and France declared war against Russia and made an alliance with Turkey. Simmons became further involved with the Turkish army and after several successful operations was confirmed as British Commissioner, in the local rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He was also awarded the C.B. (Companion of Bath). He remained in this post with the Turks until the end of the Crimean War (1854-56) during which he displayed knowledge of strategy and command which led to regrets that he never had an opportunity of leading a British force in the field.

In 1857, Simmons returned to Asia Minor as the British Representative on the International Commission set up to establish a new boundary between Russia and Asiatic Turkey. This was followed by a Foreign Office appointment as Consul General in Warsaw, a post which he held until the end of 1860.

On his return to England he became Commanding Royal Engineer at Aldershot and in 1865 became a member of a committee set up to review the activities of the Royal Engineers Establishment in Chatham. While generally satisfied, the committee suggested a number of improvements and Simmons was appointed Director of the Establishment, a post he held until 1868 when he was forced to vacate it as it was a Colonel's appointment and he had recently been promoted to Major General.

He was not idle for long and in March 1869, on the sudden death of the lieutenant-governor of the Royal Military Academy, Simmons was selected as his successor. Prior to this, the Commander-in-Chief held the appointment of governor with the Lieutenant-Governor in a somewhat subordinate position. Simmons found that this system gave rise to many difficulties and after some discussion he was appointed governor with full powers and with personal responsibility for the education and conduct of the cadets. In June 1869 he was created KCB and was promoted to Lt.General in 1872, being appointed Colonel Commandant of the Royal Engineers in the same year.

He devoted much attention to the efficiency of the British army and in 1874-75 he was a member of the Royal Commission on Railway Accidents, a position for which his previous experience as Inspector of Railways made him well suited.

He remained at Woolwich until 1875 and was then appointed Inspector General of Fortifications, a post which he held for five years. At the same time he was a member of the Royal Commission on the Defence of British Possessions abroad and was also an active member of the Commission on the Organisation of the Army. In 1878, while still within the War Office, he acted as military adviser to the Earl of Beaconsfield and the Marquess of Salisbury, British representatives at an International Congress to revise the treaty which had been drawn up following the end of the Russo-Turkish war. Sir Lintorn Simmons had been promoted to General in 1877 and at the conclusion of the Congress he was given the GCB.

His period of Service as Inspector General of Fortifications ended in 1880 and in 1884 he was appointed Governor of Malta. While in this post he saw through a number of major constitutional and social changes on the island and in 1887 was given the GCMG. He remained in Malta until 1888 when, at the age of 67, he retired from the army.

Despite the ending of his military career, he continued to be employed by the Foreign Office. There were certain questions relating to marriages in Malta involving canon law which needed to be discussed with the Pope and in 1889 Simmons was selected for this delicate mission. In 1890 he was promoted to Field Marshal and thus returned to the active list of the army. Although his public career was at an end, he never ceased to take a keen interest in military subjects and in charitable activities related to the army.

After retiring, he lived at Hawley, near Blackwater in Surrey, where he died on 14 February 1903. He had expressed a wish to be buried at Churchill, in Somerset, alongside his wife but, in accordance with his rank, a funeral service was held at Hawley church by order of King Edward VII. Sir Lintorn Simmons was certainly one of the most distinguished officers who served in the Corps of Royal Engineers during the 19th century.

Sir John Lintorn SIMMONS, was born in Langford, Somerset on 12th February 1821, the fifth son of Mary Simmons, nee Perry, the daughter of John Perry of Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Captain Thomas Simmons, and one of their twelve children. Of the eight boys, six became army officers. He joined the Royal Engineers on 14th December 1837, and served in Canada until March 1845. Back in England, he became an Instructor at the Woolwich Academy, and the Inspector of the Railways. In 1853 he was visiting Eastern Europe when war broke out between Turkey and Russia. His services were used by the British Ambassador in Turkey. He remained there and resigned his commission. When England became Turkey’s ally, and the Crimean War started he was attached to Omar Pasha’s army on the Danube. He was successful against the Russian army, and was promoted to brevet-Major on 14th July 1854. He continued to serve with Omar Pasha’s troops throughout the Crimean War, for which he received several medals but was particularly favoured by the Sultan of Turkey who presented him with a Sword of Honour, and made him a Major-General in the Turkish Army. In March 1857 he became involved in establishing the boundary between Russia and Turkey as called for by the Treay of Paris. From 20th February 1858 until 1860 he was British Consul in Warsaw. Promoted to Lieut-Colonel on 31st January 1860 he spent the next five years at Aldershot as the Commanding Royal Engineer. He became the Governor of the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in 1869. Appointment as the Governor of Malta was made in April 1884, where he remained until 1888. The following year he went to Rome to discuss with Pope Leo XIII the problem regarding mixed marriages in Malta, which was successfully resolved. His first wife was his cousin Ellen Lintorn Simmons, who he married at Keynsham near Bristol on 16th April 1846. The couple had a daughter Eleanor Julia, who died unmarried in 1901. His wife died in 1851. He re-married on 20th November 1856 in London, to Blanche Weston, the daughter of Samuel Charles Weston. They had a daughter Blanche, who married Major Charles Edward Orman, of the Essex Regiment. He died in Hampshire on 14th February 1903

Book:

SIMMONS, Sir John Linton Arabin bart. Field-Marshal (18...

The Military Forces of Great Britain

London : W. Mitchell & Co., Military Publishers, 39 Charing Cross, S.W. 1871 8vo, 106 pp, stab-stitched without wrappers as issued, slightly dusty. An assessment of British military strength prompted by the general unease in Europe occasioned by the Franco-Prussian War

GBP 60.00 > other currencies ordernr.: HMF976 bookseller: H. M. Fletcher (GREAT BRITAIN)

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