Ingo Simon

Ingo Heinrich Julius William Gustav Simon (6 May 1875 – 31 July 1964), also known as Ingo Henry Simon, was an English singer,[5] poet and accomplished archer[6] who spent many years researching the history of archery and the development of bows. From 1914 to 1933, he held the world record for a flight-shot at 462 yards (422 m).[6]

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.[7][8] He was an operatic singer and teacher.[9] In 1918, he was living in the United States.[3]

In 1910, an archery contest was held on the beach at Le Touquet, France, where Simon was able to shoot an arrow 475 yards (434 m) using an old Turkish composite bow requiring a force of 440 newtons (99 lbf).[10]

Roving Shafts, a volume of his poems, some about archery, was published in 1924.[11]

He died in 1964[6] and his widow, Erna, the 1937 women's world champion died in 1973;[6] they endowed a trust in 1970,[6] to conserve and develop his collection of bows, arrows and related equipment,[6] which he donated to the Manchester Museum in 1946.[6] The collection includes artefacts from many countries including Great Britain, Brazil, Europe, India, Pakistan, Japan, Central Asia, Africa, and the Pacific islands.[12]