Simon Wilkin Wilkin

Simon Wilkin Wilkin (1790–1862), Norwich Baptist publisher and literary scholar, was the son of William Wilkin Wilkin (1762-99), Norfolk flour miller. Simon was left after his father’s death with Joseph Kinghorn, Baptist minister at Norwich, who served as his guardian and educated him in his home. By the age of 21, Wilkin was an expert entomologist and fellow of the Linnean Society, as well as the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh. His flour mill (inherited) failed in 1816, and he was forced to sell his entomological collection, now residing at the Zoological Society. After that, however, he established a successful printing and publishing business in Norwich, publishing Harriet Martineau, Amelia Opie, George Borrow, and William Taylor. In 1834 he moved to London, having become estranged with the Norwich Baptist church over its communion policy (Kinghorn had been a closed communionist). Wilkin’s major work was his 4-volume edition of the works of Sir Thomas Browne (1836), an edition that was copious in its treatment of manuscripts and other texts, establishing a model for the future of scholarly editions. He also contributed to his son’s (Martin Hood Wilkin) biography of Kinghorn, Joseph Kinghorn of Norwich (1855).  In his later years, however, he had many doctrinal disputes with the Norwich Baptists.