Josephine (Christie) Sims (1911 - 1998)

Born 19 Apr 1911 in Gillingham, Kent, England

Ancestors

Wife of Stuart Haslett Crompton — married 20 Jul 1929 (to 13 Mar 1941) in Auckland, New Zealand

Wife of Jack Ethelbert Sims — married 28 Mar 1941 in Te Kuiti, New Zealand

Descendants

Died 5 Nov 1998 at age 87 in Mount Roskill Auckland, N Z

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England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 Name Josephine Christie Registration Year 1911 Registration Quarter Apr-May-Jun Registration district Medway Inferred County Kent Volume 2a Page 758 address: 33 Louisville Ave. Gillingham, Kent, Engand

https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=BMD/B/1911/2/AZ/000253/075

New Zealand, Marriage Index, 1840-1934 Name Josephine Christie Gender Female Marriage Year 1929 Relation Bride Folio Number 5894 Household Members Name Age Stuart Haslett Crompton Josephine Christie

Divorce 14 Mar 1941

Marriage 28th March 1941 • Te Kuiti New Zealand

Jack Ethelbert SIMS (1912–1971)

Biography Josephine Christie was born on the 19th April 1911 at 33 Louisville Ave Gillingham, Kent England. Her mother was Diana Louise nee Rogers who was married to John Joseph Christie a C.P.O. in the Royal Navy of Cumberland. She had a sister Dorothy who was born on the 1st May 1912.

The Christie Family left English shores in 1922 for the Bay of Islands New Zealand on the ship "Rimutaka" Josephine's brother John was born on 9th November 1925 in Auckland. Their first home was a ramshackle farm home more like a shed, which horrified Diana as she was used to the comfort of a middle-class home in England. There were times when she had to mix rat poison with glue and past newspaper on the walls to keep the rats out.

Mum told me she left school at the age of 13 years to help towards the family costs, as things were pretty tight. She used to work for a clothing factory and would walk about 4 or 5 miles a day to and from work. She had to put cardboard in the bottom of her shoes as she could not afford a new pair and she told me she used to take onion sandwiches to work, which she hated. There was a very kind woman where she worked who would from time to time offer to swap sandwiches with mum giving her something decent to eat saying she loved onion sandwiches. It was a very kind gesture and something mum never forgot. One time when mum was a teen she went to the hairdresser to have a hair perm and was horrified to see as the girl took the hair curlers out; her hair went with it. She has left the perming lotion on her hair too long and it had burnt it completely off. Luckily it looked really good as bob's were in fashion at that time. If I recall correctly she was not charged for her new and fashionable hairstyle owing to the girls' massive mistake.

I remember mum as a person who always had time for us as children, she had amazing patience and would think up the loveliest things to help us pass time on rainy days. She would create competitions for us with a prize of a shilling to the winner. We were allowed to play in a way I think a lot of other children would not have been able to. For instance she would think nothing of letting us turn the table into a cave or tipping up the lounge suite and creating huts within. We had a very large solid wooden oval dining room table; which was perfect as a cave and David and I spent many a long hour playing underneath it with a sheet covering it completely to give the elusion of a cave.

When I think of mum at Konini Rd I think of her sitting at the table reading a book one leg tucked up under her, smoking a cigarette and drinking a cup of tea, a pile of magazines and newspapers beside her.

Our Christmas's were always pretty special; mum usually worked about three months before the festive season to help pay for all the Christmas goodies. One place she worked for was Lines brothers (a toy factory who specialized in quality tin toys, cars, trains etc.) her job was to paint the gold lines on the side of the trains and do other fine paint work on toy cars, I recall as a child sitting at the window looking longingly at the gate way waiting for her to come home. I did not enjoy the times mum worked, I missed her terribly. I also recall she worked in a china factory painting the fine gold trims on the crockery. If my memory serves me correctly Dorrie her sister also worked in the same crockery factory.

I remember one year the Christmas tree was up in all it's glory of lots of beautiful glass decorations and baubles, and covered in wonderful Christmas fairy lights. David and I decided at about 2 am in the morning that it was time to inspect the exciting gifts under the tree, so we sneaked ever so quietly down into the lounge and so as not to disturb anyone of our early rise thought we would turn on the fairy lights. Unknown to David a wire was hanging across the plug socket and as he pushed the plug into the socket there was an incredible bang and a huge flash from outside. It appears we had short-circuited most of the street of any electricity!! Oopps there goes Christmas dinner, I think it was nearly midday before we had any power. As you can imagine we were not particularly popular that Christmas, I do remember very well one of my gifts though. It was a plastic chicken and when you pushed down on its body the legs would retract into the body and it would lay an egg. I think a few eggs were laid that morning and not by chickens ha ha.

A wonderful thing mum used to let us do is sleep outside in the summer. David and I would drag our mattresses outside and place them on a large plastic sheet, then make up the mattress into a cozy bed with a cover of plastic to keep the dew off and a large umbrella placed at the foot of the mattress so as the sun rose in the morning it did not blind you in it's brilliance. We also used to dig a hole in the ground down in the veggie garden section build a fire and cover it with a sheet of tin and then cook tasty meals of bacon and eggs.

Mum like dad was an avid lover of books and always keep us supplied in wonderful books and I still have a lot of those treasures she bestowed upon me as a child. We used to walk to Ellerslie on Friday evenings and spend time picking books from the library, sometimes taking in a movie at the local theater.

I remember as a teenager coming home from the pictures or a party and mum was always up ready with a lovely warm hot water bottle on cold nights and hot cups of Milo we would drink as we chatted about the movie I saw. They were lovely private close moments I treasured.

She has such a generous soul and was always happy to give even if it meant she would go with out. I remember when I was first married and the flat we rented was incredibly cold, so cold in fact that Maria was never placed on the floor to play in the months we lived there. Mum rang (the people next door used to let me use the phone) to see how I was and I was in tears because of the bitter cold, I had already chopped up any spare wood including old furniture I had found under the house. Within a few hours of my hanging up from mum there was knock at the door and a man stood there with a huge sack of coal mum had sent to me. She often did these kind deeds; it is what made her happy. Unfortunately sometimes the way she spent money would drive dad to distraction as I am afraid as good as dad was with money mum was hopeless and it ran through her fingers like melted butter. It was usually for others she bought though as it was in her generous nature to give whenever she could.

I think if we could have stayed, as children forever mum would have been content, she loved being a mother, caring and giving to us all. It wasn't so easy for her as we grew up and started wanting to be more independent. It was not easy for her to let her chicks out of the nest but anything she did was for love and I have only the warmest and happy memories of my childhood.

I miss you so, my mother, much more than I ever thought I would. I miss our chats on the phone, your gifts you gave when you had so little. Your kindness your warmth, your love, your endless giving; my good memories. Sometimes when I stand outside in a breeze I think of you mother of mine, the memories of our good times come rushing back, the soft wind that blows will always remind me of you.

Type: Death Date: 1998 Place: Purewa Cemetery Note: Surname SIMS First Names Josephine Age«tab» 87 Years Gender Female Date of Death 05 Nov 1998 Religion Orthodox Serial No 44464 Date of Service 9 Nov 1998 Date of Service Interment 06 Nov 2000 Funeral Director W H Tongue & Son's, P O Box 8510, Symonds Street, AUCKLAND Buried Ashes; with Jack Sims her husband who died on the 6th March 1971

Cemetery Purewa Cemetery Location Block Z Row 16 Plot 095