Simon Wilkin

Simon Wilkin (27 July 1790, in Costessey − 1862, in London) was an English publisher, literary scholar and naturalist whose main interest was entomology.

Life He was the second of the three children of William Wilkin Wilkin (1762–1799), a Norfolk gristmiller, and Cecilia Lucy Wilkin (d. 1796), daughter of William Jacomb of London. When his father died Wilkin moved to Norwich to live with his guardian, Joseph Kinghorn, who educated him. He was a close friend of John Curtis, William Kirby, John Burrell and William Spence who shared his interest in entomology.

Wilkin lost his inherited wealth in 1811 when the paper mill in which he was a partner failed, and in 1832 his guardian's death was another financial disaster. They are held at the Norfolk Heritage Centre in The Forum, Norwich as The Wilkin Collection.

He was a Fellow of the Linnean Society, and a member of the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh.