The Sims family of Dover

  The Sims family roots go back to Dover, in Kent, England. The earliest confirmed ancestor is Robert Sims who married Sarah Baker at St. Mary the Virgin Church in Dover (left) on July 26^th, 1784.

There was a large contingent of Sims family members living in Dover in the 1600 and 1700’s. At least one of the very early Sims settlers in the Americas came from Dover in the early 1600’s. For many years now I have been trying to trace Robert Sims’ parents. Despite reading all the St. Mary the Virgin parish records and assorted other documents, I have yet to come to a firm conclusion. While we have the original marriage record, Robert’s birth has been difficult to identify. To try to get a definitive answer, I spent a week in Dover, staying in the lighthouse keeper’s cottage on the top of the cliffs. There where several Robert Sims’ living at about that time in and around Dover. 

There are two possible contenders.  The first is that our Robert Sims is the son of Thomas Simms (they seemed to spell the name interchangeably back then) and Christian Roof, married April 8, 1749. Thomas and Christian had two sons named Robert, one born in 1755 who died in infancy and a second born in 1761. They lived in the little village of Guston, which is situated about three miles from Dover itself.

The second contender is that Robert was the son of an extensive Quaker family living in Dover.

I would be happy to share all my Dover Sims records with anyone interested and intend to follow up the evidence to try to make a firm connection and expand our tree back in time.

Robert and Sarah Sims

Robert Sims and Sarah Baker were married in 1884 in Dover. There are three children recorded in the church records.

• James, born 1785

• Elizabeth, born in 1787

• Robert, born in 1789

James is the direct line ancestor. His younger brother Robert died in 1829 and was listed on his burial record as living at Albion Place, Dover. This may yet prove significant since other Sims’ lived there as shown by later records.  We have no record of Elizabeth, although there are several possible marriages, particularly in the Plumpstead area where her brother James settled.

There is a burial record for a Robert Sims, Mariner buried Jan 13th, 1789.  We do know he died before 1793 because in that year Sarah Sims, widow married a widower named John Eastes by Bishop’s liscence.  I am pretty sure this is our Sarah, since Mary Baker and Thomas Curling are the witnesses on the marriage certificate and they also witnessed her marriage to Robert Sims.

James Sims and Jane Castleman

James Sims married Jane Castleman on Feb 14, 1801 in Plumstead, Kent.  They appear to have had only three children: Ebenezer, born 1806, who married Francis Warren on Nov 6^th, 1825 and moved to Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. They founded the flourishing Australian Sims clan; See: An Australian Sims family photo album. Henry, born 1810, about whom I know nothing; and James John Sims, born 1813 who married Elizabeth Chammings. All three children were baptized at the Salem Independent Baptist Chapel, Powis Street, Woolwich.

 

 

 

 

Move to Woolwich

It is James and Jane Sims (nee Castleman) who are our common ancestors.  It appears therefore they were non-conformists and had moved from Dover to Woolwich no later than 1801 since they were married in Plumstead – just east of Woolwich, on Feb 14^th, 1801.

It is pure speculation, but it may be that James Sims worked with the military establishment in Dover and secured a position at the Woolwich Arsenal and transferred there as a result. There is some evidence he was with the Arsenal later on in life. However, John James and Elizabeth’s marriage certificate show James Sims’ occupation as “Builder”.

James John and Elizabeth Sims were married in 1836 at St. Dunstan in the West Church in London. They apparently had six children: Mary Jane, b. 1837, Elizabeth Buckingham, b.1839, Ebanezer Edwin, b. July 13^th, 1843, Emily, b. 1846, Ellen, b. 1848; and James John b. 1850. The first two were christened at St. Mary Magdalene in Woolwich. The record of the others comes from the 1851 Woolwich census. That census shows the father living apart from the family, but that would not be uncommon in a military establishment. He died relatively young since his occupation in 1864 (on Ebenezer Edwin’s marriage certificate) is listed as “Dead”.

Ebanezer Edwin Sims

Ebanezer Edwin Sims married twice. His first wife was Constance Willis whom he married on August 10^th, 1864. She died at age 28 on Nov 18^th, 1871 of heart and anemia problems.

He then married Mary Ann Montague, who appears to have been a neighbour’s daughter, Ebenezer Edwin had a total of seven children, including my grandfather. I presume the first four are by his first wife Constance, but without the birth dates I cannot be sure. They were:

• Nell whom I know nothing about.
• Winnie. Auntie Winnie remained single all her life. We visited her a few times in Colchester where she had a house not far from the Roman ruins. She made her living painting colour on black and white photographs, which in its day was a skill in high demand.
• Emily C. b. 1867 about whom I know nothing.
• George T.A. b. 1871 about whom I know nothing.
• Fred L. M. b. 1874 about whom I know nothing.
• Amy A.M. b. 1878 about whom I recall some mention, but no details.
• Montague Sydney Sims b. 1880, who is my grandfather.

Ebanezer Edwin Sims and his wife Mary Anne lived in the Plumstead and Woolwich area while he worked at the arsenal. A little later they moved just south of there to Shooter’s Hill. The 1881 census shows him as a Clerk Foreman of the Writers War Dept. (CS Off), which is apparently an engineering position.
 

Dwelling:  6 Tavistock Pl Census Place:           Plumstead, Kent, England Source:     FHL Film 1341176     PRO Ref RG11    Piece 0750    Folio 22    Page 37 Marr        Age          Sex           Birthplace Ebenezer E. SIMMS M             37            M             Woolwich, Kent, England Rel:          Head Occ:         Clerk Foreman Of Writers War Dept (C S Off) Mary A. SIMMS       M             34            F              Woolwich, Kent, England Rel:          Wife Emily C. SIMMS                     13            F              Welling, Kent, England Rel:          Daur Occ:         Scholar George T. A. SIMMS                               10            M             Woolwich, Kent, England Rel:          Son Occ:         Scholar Fred.L.M. SIMMS                   6              M             Plumstead, Kent, England Rel:          Son Occ:         Scholar Amy A. M. SIMMS                 3              F              Greenwich, Kent, England Rel:          Daur Montague S. SIMMS                10 m        M             Greenwich, Kent, England Rel:          Son Jessie HUSSEY         U             17            F              New Charlton, Kent, England

  

His pension records show that he was the Plant Foreman, a civilian position in the Royal Ordinance Factories. This was a very large institution only just now being pulled down. He retired to pension at age 53 in 1896. In about 1900, Ebenezer moved to 13, Linton Crescent, Cornwallis Gardens, Hastings, on the South Coast.

Montague Sydney Sims

Montague was his mother’s maiden name. It is repeated in each of his four sons and appears also to have been the second name of at least one of his siblings. He married Emma Lucy Cullen, b. 1880 in 1905 in Bexhill-on-Sea. Her father was a building contractor who came from North Kent. Montague Sydney Sims was very involved in all things mechanical, perhaps because he was raised by an ordinance engineer. He went to sea at a young age as a marine engineer, getting stuck for one winter in the ice near Murmansk. He is reputed to have driven the first motor omnibus in England. Bexhill was the home of the first motor sports track in England and he raced cars there. He was also a very early aviation enthusiast, reputedly having held English pilot’s liscence number 13. He is said to have invented an early supercharger and to have been on the flight crew of Alcock and Brown. My mother recalls thank you photographs and letters signed by them, which she donated to the RAF Museum at Hendon. This picture shows him in a plane he built himself.

Emma Lucy and Montague Sydney had four boys:

• Leonard E. Montague b. Feb 10, 1909
• Donald Montague b. 1914
• Jack Dennis Montague b. Feb 6, 1916
• Sidney Montague b. 1918

The family moved to Rochester then Southborough near Tonbridge (in late 1918) then Sidcup, all in North Kent. H owned and operated garages.  During WW1 he worked for Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness working on submarines, so his engineering skills were good enough to keep him from the trenches. In the summer of 1928, at age 19, Leonard died after an extended illness. My understanding is it started with a chemistry lab accident at his school in Tonbridge. Leonard was the apple of his father’s eye, and his father never recovered fully from the loss. The family fortunes went down and Montague Sydney Sims died on September 22, 1940 leaving £193 to his widow.

This is a picture of Monty and Emma’s wedding in 1905 at St. Peter’s Parish Church, Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex. It was the first motorcar wedding in Bexhill.

Emily lived until 1951. She met me but I have no recollection of her, as I was only two at the time.

Donald Sims

My Uncle Donald just died a few years ago. He was the relative I knew best. He married my Aunt Joan who died a few years before Donald. They had three daughters, Wendy, Nonie and Heather, each of whom is married with a family and living in England. I am in touch with all of them. Nonie and Heather visited Canada two years ago.

Donald started work in agriculture, and particularly estate management soon after school. When the Second World War came he was seconded into the Ministry of Supply to work on wartime food supply, supervising land conversion in the fen country among other things. As a teenager he developed what became a lifetime interest in beekeeping. A few years before he died he wrote a book called “Sixty Years with Bees”.

 This picture shows Donald and Joan’s family at Christmas, 1984. Back: Chris, Wendy, Roy. Seated: Heather, Jane, Donald, Joan, Alan. Front: Louise, Katie, David, Susie, Nonie, Robert.

 Donald and Joan moved around the country quite a lot as he progressed through his career. He became the Land Commissioner for each of England’s four land regions within the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. They lived just outside Exeter, where the children still maintain the old house as a summer cottage, then went to Newcastle on Tyne and after that, lived just outside Cambridge, where they retired.

Donald was a keen painter and he and Joan were both avid gardeners. Donald and Joan, and after Joan died, Donald alone visited Canada many times. Once he retired, Donald became a member of the Lord Chancellor’s Inquiry Officer panel, and in that capacity chaired many inquiries into motorway locations, fisheries issues, airport locations and the like. This second career lasted for about 15 years and he greatly enjoyed conducting inquiries. A few years before he died Donald remarried.

Sydney Sims

I recall less of Uncle Sydney, because he spent much of his life in the Middle East. He was reputed to be a brilliant engineer. He had graduated from University before the war in petroleum engineering. During the war he too was seconded to the Ministry of Supply, in oil production. At the end of the war he is reputed to have gone with the British officials into the German secret rocket research facility at Petamunda in North Germany.

After the war he married Joan and had three children. I have not kept in touch with that branch of the family although recall meeting my cousins as a young child. Their names were Hazel, Jill and Martin.  My most vivid recollection of Sydney was when he showed up for a visit one day in a very new and flashy Jaguar and took my brother and me for a very fast ride.

Sydney worked for Iraqi Petroleum in Iraq as an oil refinery manager. In the late fifties he died in an automobile accident, rolling a Jaguar on a dessert road as I recall the story.

My family

My father, Jack Dennis Montague Sims married my mother Pamela Nancy Tizzard just before the war. Dad had been a volunteer in the Territorial Army and volunteered as soon as the war started.

He went away to war and it was learnt that he had been sent off to Singapore. Singapore fell to the Japanese just a few days after he arrived. For the remainder of the War and for too long after, he remained in a P.O.W. camp, as forced labour on the infamous Rangoon to Bangkok “Burma Railway”.

During this period my mother heard very little about what was happening. Indeed, for a time she was told my father was presumed dead. After a stint in the Land Army she decided to sign up for the RAF. She became one of the first two women flight mechanics on a base full of men.    

When my father luckily returned – many did not – he took a job as an accountant with a municipality. A little later he took a similar job with the Armstrong Cork Company. Later he worked for a furniture retailer as accountant. I was born in 1948, my brother Richard in 1950 and my sister Jacky in 1953. My Dad was keen to emigrate. My maternal grandmother had moved, in the late 50’s to Derby, in the north of Western Australia and this prompted plans to emigrate also to Australia. These plans were altered when she met and married a retired Canadian farmer and moved to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 1963 we followed her to Moose Jaw, soon moving on to Regina. All three of us children finished our high school in Saskatchewan.

I moved around the country working in the Yukon, and then returning to University in Kingston, Ontario. I moved to Edmonton, Alberta in 1970 and finished my training – Arts then Law, in 1974. I have been here ever since. I have two sons  – Peter Keir Brinsmead Sims and David Nicholas Brinsmead Sims. My field is labour relations arbitration and mediation.

My brother Richard is a Heavy Equipment Mechanic who lives in Calgary with his wife Marion and two step children Shawn and Heather. My sister Jacky lives in Vancouver with her partner Ken Sekiya. My mother is also in Vancouver. She and my Father retired there from Calgary, where they lived for several years. My father died in 1988. My mother is still well and lives in her own apartment just off English Bay in the heart of the City.