Ingo Simon

Lore & Background

Ingo Simon was born in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, the child of German engineer Henry Gustav Simon and his first wife, Mary Jane Lane of Melbourne, Australia. One of his younger half-brothers was Ernest Simon, 1st Baron Simon of Wythenshawe. He worked as an operatic singer and teacher, and in 1918 was living in the United States. In 1910, an archery contest was held on the beach at Le Touquet, France, where Simon shot an arrow 475 yards using an old Turkish composite bow requiring a force of 440 N. He held the world record for a flight-shot at 462 yards from 1914 to 1933. A volume of his poems, some about archery, titled *Roving Shafts*, was published in 1924. He died in 1964 in Devon.

Reader's Guide

Simon's significance lies in his dual legacy as a record-holding archer and a dedicated historian of archery. His world record flight-shot of 462 yards stood for nearly two decades, and his 1910 shot of 475 yards at Le Touquet demonstrated the power of traditional composite bows. Beyond his own shooting, he spent years researching the history of archery and bow development. In 1946, he donated his collection of bows, arrows and related equipment to the Manchester Museum. The collection includes artefacts from Great Britain, Brazil, Europe, India, Pakistan, Japan, Central Asia, Africa, and the Pacific islands. In 1970, he and his widow Erna—the 1937 women's world champion—endowed a trust to conserve and develop the collection. Erna died in 1973. Simon's work thus preserved a global record of archery equipment and techniques for future study.

Did You Know?

• In 1910, he shot an arrow 475 yards on the beach at Le Touquet, France, using an old Turkish composite bow requiring 440 N of force.
• His widow, Erna, was the 1937 women's world champion.
• Simon donated his collection of archery equipment to the Manchester Museum in 1946.