MB Lond 1859, MD 1861; MRCS 1851; LSA 1852.
Simpson was born in Lymm, Cheshire, in 1829. He received his medical education at University College Hospital where he held junior resident posts. On qualifying, Simpson practised in Lymm until 1864, when he came to Manchester. In 1866, he was the last physician to be elected to the Manchester Infirmary by the votes of subscribers, and he held this position until retirement in 1888. He has gained his medical education at Sheffield and University College Hospital, where he was physicians assistant and house surgeon. Simpson was lecturer in pathology at Manchester Royal School of Medicine and was also consulting physician to Manchester Hospital for Consumpton, St Mary's Hospital and the Manchester Ear Hospital. He was a significant figure in the local medical community, and was president of Manchester Medical Society in 1869 and also president of the Manchester Medico-Ethical Society in 1880. He was also a member of Manchester Statistical Society and Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. Simpson was well known as a sanitarian; he was chairman of the Manchester and Salford Sanitary Association, and wrote a number of their Health Lectures for the People. Simpson suffered from sciatica and rheumatism, and retired in 1889 to North Wales. He died on 13 April 1911.