Albert Sims (1877 - 1936)

Born 9 Aug 1877 in Canterbury, Kent, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died Mar 1936 at age 58 in Canterbury, Kent, England

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England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915 Name: Albert Sims Registration Year: 1877 Registration Quarter: Jul-Aug-Sep Registration district: Bridge Parishes for this Registration District: View Ecclesiastical Parishes associated with this Registration District Inferred County: Kent Volume: 2a Page: 715 http://search.ancestry.com.au/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=8912&h=50334358&ssrc=pt&tid=18672890&pid=694061661&usePUB=true

Note: Written by Ethel Ried and Ann Lamb nee: Sims ELBERT Albert was fifteen when his father died and therefore his story became the saddest of them all. One family friend was a Mr West a master Saddler of Margate; it was probably through their shared interest in Saddlery that he and George Sims were acquainted. He was a wealthy man living in some style in Margate with his wife and three of his daughters. He had come to George Sims's funeral and afterwards suggested to his widow that she should allow Albert to live with his family in Margate and he would apprentice him as a Saddler. His mother thinking it was for the best accepted his offer, so where the rest of the family lost a father, Albert also lost a mother and home especially damaging with him being at such a vulnerable age.

When he was nineteen one of the daughters of the family, Lily became pregnant by him and they were forced to marry. Their child was a little girl and they called her Lilian Alberta choosing her name by uniting their own. Soon another child was born, a boy called George and when a third child was on the way fate took another turn in the way of so-called help. Albert's mother and his sister Annie offered to share the care of Lily and George and Mr West offered to set them up in a Saddlers shop in Canterbury, and as a result the two children's lives were disrupted by being shunted from Barham to Bridge from time to time and I expect also back to their parents. With regard to the business Albert was too young and inexperienced to make a go of it and also too weighed down with domestic commitments and anxieties. Six more children followed, it was a largefamily but sadly an unhappy marriage.

In the summer of 1936 when we were in Kent and saw Albert he had great difficulty in breathing unless he sat by an open door or window. Later my mother and Aunt Lizzie visited him in hospital and he died in March 1936.

We visited New Zealand in 1983 and met the widow of Jack (Jack being the 6th child) she told me he had disliked his father intently because of his drinking. Jack immigrated to Australia through an assisted passage scheme with the Salvation Army, He took to mustering in the out-backs of Australia before travelling to New Zealand. He was a very good horseman and could ride at full gallop jumping on and off the horse without using a saddle. Joy immigrated to New Zealand in 1922 on the ship "Rimutaka"; she originally came from Gillingham Kent. John kept in touch with Uncle Percy and his daughters also corresponding with Minnie one of Jacks sisters. His daughter Ann did as a child and still does keep in contact with Minnie's daughter Olive and husband Fred. We met Marie and her daughter Deirdre who was at that time about 10 years old. Marie gave us a book of poems she had written and revealed a very sensitive nature. His son Jack is an expert in Karate and owned and controlled 7 clubs in Auckland, he received the bulk of his black Dan's in Japan and was one of the first Europeans to do so. Jacks youngest son Andrew is also expert in Karate.

We visited New Zealand in 1983 and again in 1987 visiting Joy on both occasions but Jack had died by then. (Added by Ann Lamb) Jack and Joy ran several cattle farms in NZ over the years but had to leave and head for the city due to him falling off his horse one stormy day a and cow falling on top of him damaging his back. He joined the Army for a brief period of time and trained as an army cook. He had several jobs as a cook in various places. Helaby's a very large meat processing plant in Auckland being one. He also spent several years as a cook at a timer mill in Maramarua with his son in law Chris (Marie's husband.) He was also a cook at and manger of a large railway station hostel which was taken over later by his stepdaughter Colleen. He went into partnership with Chris in a cake shop they named "Marie-Anne" sadly it went under due to that particular lock of shops being black listed, people choosing not to shop there. After the shop went under he ran a place called "The Grey Dove" He catered for weddings and engagements he also made the most beautiful cakes in the form of houses, baskets filled with edible flowers and dolls in the centre of the cake and decorated into a wonderful gown. This was done before the commercial type, which came onto the market, and you can now buy. In his later years he worked for a very large company dealing in fine china and glass ware.

I have noticed a few coincidences between Albert Sims and his son Jack Sims They were both born in August, both died in March and were both 59 years old when they died.. Albert was a heavy drinker and Jack never really came to terms with it, as a child I remember alcohol was never allowed in the house unless there was a wedding or sometimes at Christmas time.

England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915 Name: Albert Sims Registration Year: 1897 Registration Quarter: Jan-Feb-Mar Registration district: Thanet Parishes for this Registration District: View Ecclesiastical Parishes associated with this Registration District Inferred County: Kent Volume: 2a Page: 1275 Records on Page: Name Albert Sims Lily Emma West

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England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 Name: Albert Sims Birth Date: abt 1876 Date of Registration: Mar 1936 Age at Death: 60 Registration district: Canterbury Inferred County: Kent Volume: 2a Page: 1648

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1881 England Census Name Albert Sims Age 3 Estimated Birth Year abt 1878 Relationship to Head Son Father George Sims Mother Elizabeth A. Sims Gender Male Where born Barham, Kent, England Civil parish Barham County/Island Kent Country England Street Address Sportsman Arms Registration district Bridge ED, institution, or vessel 7 Piece 955 Folio 86 Page number 14 Household Members Name Age George Sims 40 Elizabeth A. Sims 38 Elizabeth Sims 13 Frank Sims 12 George Sims 10 Alfred Sims 8 Henry Sims 5 Albert Sims 3 Ernest Sims 0 Samuel Green 20 Henry Bailey 26 James Taylor 27

1891 England Census Name Albert Sims Age 13 Estimated Birth Year abt 1878 Relation Son Father's Name George Sims Mother's Name Elizabeth Sims Gender Male Where born Marham, Kent, England Civil parish Barham Ecclesiastical parish Barham Town Dessingstone County/Island Kent Country England Registration district Bridge ED, institution, or vessel 7 Piece 705 Folio 72 Page number 10 Household Members Name Age George Sims 51 Elizabeth Sims 47 Elizabeth Sims 23 Percy Sims 14 Albert Sims 13 Ernest Sims 10 Edith Sims 7 Henery Galm 34

1901 England Census Name Albert Sims Age 23 Estimated Birth Year abt 1878 Relation to Head Nephew Gender Male Birth Place Barham, Kent, England Civil parish Sandwich Search Photos Sandwich, Kent, England Ecclesiastical parish St Peter Town Sandwich County/Island Kent Country England Registration district Eastry Sub-registration district Sandwich ED, institution, or vessel 13 Piece 831 Folio 62 Page number 13 Household schedule number 80 Household Members Name Age Eliza West 61 Mary Ann Saint 38 John Saint 40 Harry Saint 9 Eliza Mary Saint 7 William West Saint 5 Beatrice Florence Saint 2 Albert Sims 23 Lillie Emma Sims 21 George Arthur Sims 2 Frank Ernest Sims 5/12

1911 England Census Name Albert Sims Age in 1911 34 Estimated Birth Year abt 1877 Relation to Head Head Gender Male Birth Place Barham, Kent Civil parish Canterbury Search Photos Canterbury, Kent, England County/Island Kent Country England Street Address 10 Rosemary Lane, Canterbury Marital Status Married Occupation Harness Maker Registration district Canterbury Registration District Number 58 Sub-registration district Canterbury ED, institution, or vessel 4 Household schedule number 140 Piece 4324 Household Members Name Age Albert Sims 34 Lily Emma Sims 32 Lily Albert Sims 14 George Auther Sims 12 Frank Ernest Sims 10 Percy Robert Sims 8 Edith Florence Sims 6 Beatie Ethel Sims 3

British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920 Albert Sims Gender Male Birth Date abt 1876 Enlistment Age 41 Marriage Date 23 Feb 1897 Marriage Place Thanet Document Year 1917 Residence Place 16 North Lane, Canterbury Regimental Number 034760 Regiment Name Army Ordnance Corps Number of Images 18 Form Title Record of Service Other Records Albert Sims - Self - Army Ordnance Corps 034760 Household Members Name Age Albert Sims 41 Lily Emma West Percy Robert Sims 15 Edith Florence Sims 11 Beatrice Ethel Sims 9 Jack Ethelbert Sims 5 Rhoda Minnie Sims 2

Address: 10 Rosemary Lane Canterbury County: Kent

Occupation: Saddle Maker Date: Abt 1897 Place: Margate, Kent, England