Frank Lewis Worthington Simon was born in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse [now part of Germany] on 31 March 1862. He subsequently moved to England where he received his schooling. In 1879 he was articled to John Cotton in Birmingham, following which, in c.1882-83 he worked as an assistant to Jethro Anstice Cossins (1830-1917) in Birmingham. In c.1883 he enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and trained in the Atelier of Jean-Louis Pascal (1837-1920). Following the completion of his course, he worked as an assistant John James Burnet (1857-1938) and John Archibald Campbell (1859-1909) of Burnet, Son & Campbell in Glasgow in 1886-87; and to James Maitland Wardrop (1824-1882), Robert Rowand Anderson (1834-1921) and Thomas Brown of Wardrop, Anderson & Brown in c.1887-88.
Simon commenced practice as an architect in Edinburgh in 1888 and from 1888 to 1917 was in a series of partnerships - with Stewart Henbest Capper (1860-1925) as Simon & Capper in Edinburgh from 1888 to 1892; with Charles Edward Tweedie, senior (1863-1942) as Simon & Tweedie in Manchester from 1892 to c.1895; with Alexander Hunter Crawford (1865-1945) as Simon & Crawford in Edinburgh from 1898 to 1903; with Huon Arthur Matear (1856-1945) in as Matear & Simon in Liverpool from 1903 to c.1907; and with Henry Boddington (1881-?) in Edinburgh as Simon & Boddington from 1910 to 1914. In 1912 Simon and Boddington won a competition to design the Manitoba Parliament Building in Winnipeg, and between then and 1920 Simon lived both in Britain and Canada. Following the completion of the Manitoba project in 1920 he returned to Britain permanently. Thereafter he appears to have semi-retired from practice.
Simon taught for a period at Edinburgh School of Applied Art. In 1887 he won the RIBA Tite Prize. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architercts (FRIBA) in 1902.
He died in Menton, Alpes Maritimes, France on 19 May 1933
Notable among Simon's works were Outwood, 8 Mortonhall Road, Edinburgh (1888); Hope Chapel, Wigan, Lancashire (1888); Innerleithen Congregational Church (1889); buildings for the Edinburgh International Exhibition (1890); Whiteinch Orphanage, Broomhill, Glasgow (1890); 32 Inverleith Place, Edinburgh (1892); Macfadyen Memorial Church, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester (1892); Edinburgh Dental School and Hospital (1894); an Evangelical Union Church, Edinburgh (1894); Robertson's Court, Edinburgh (1894); Trysull School, Institute and All Saints Church (1896-97); The Red House Nurses Home, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (1897); 2 South Gillsland Road, Edinburgh (1897); Industrial Brigade Building, Fountainbridge, Edinburgh (1898); Brizlee, villa on Colinton Road, Edinburgh (1899); Parish Church in Inchinnan, Renfrewshire (1899); Perth Evangelical Union Church (1899); the remodelling of Library Senate Room, University of St. Andrews (1899); Rosefield Cottage, 4 Cargil Terrace, Edinburgh (1899); Dalmeny Street Drill Hall, Leith, Edinburgh (1900); Claremont Congregational Church, Blackpool, Lancashire (1901); Pearce Memorial Hall and Institute, Govan, Glasgow (1901); alterations to the the estate at Balmoral Castle, Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire (1902); Dunalistair House, Dreghorn, Edinburgh (1902); remodelling of Trysull Manor in Trysull, near Wolverhampton, Staffordshire (1902); Liverpool Cotton Exchange, with Huon Matear (1905-06); Orleans House, Liverpoo, , with Huon Matear (1907); Manitoba Legislative Building, Winnipeg (1912–20); Arts Faculty Building, University of Liverpool (1913); and a railway viaduct, Banff, Alberta, Canada (1919)
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For a detailed list of Simon's works c.1885-1916, see also Dictionary of Scottish Architects 1660-1980 [link below]
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
Gray, A. Stuart. Edwardian Architecture: a Bographical Dictionary. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1985
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 144, 16 June 1933 p. 954
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 145, 7 July 1933 p. 6
‘Obituary’. Royal Institute of British Architects Journal vol. 40 17 June 1933 p.641
Who's Who in Architecture 1914. London: Technical Journals Ltd., 1914