Photograph of Sir John Simeon, half-length, seated three-quarters right, with moustache and beard and wearing waistcoat and jacket.

Sir John Simeon (1815-70), 3rd Baronet, lived at Swainston on the Isle of Wight and served as the island's Member of Parliament for two sessions. He was a close friend of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who wrote the poem In the Garden at Swainston, following Sir John's death. It included the words, 'Three dead men have I loved, and thou art last of the three'.

Text adapted from Roger Fenton – Julia Margaret Cameron: Early British photographs from the Royal Collection, London, 2010