Sims family

[Keziah2]

I was initially curious about Denys https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=807549.0 as I was unable to trace his family but thanks to the help of fellow RChatters his family seem rather more interesting.

The birth registrations for both Harold & Denys were seemingly in Brighton
Birth: Jun Qtr 1919 Brighton 2b/258 Harold A SIMS.  MMN: Anderson
Birth: Mar Qtr 1921 Brighton 2b/317 Wilfrid D G SIMS.  MMN: Anderson (aka Denys Guy Sims)
There is a marriage also in Brighton Sep Qtr 1918  2b/668 Arthur SIMS Doris ANDERSON

I know that Denys was killed in 1941 when the bomber he was in crashed in Scotland.  I also know he was an ARP warden in the village.

Their mother Doris seems to have ended up as Evelyn Guy Sims, living in Oakley Suffolk with a history of out of control German Shepard dogs.  Husband Arthur later referred to in newspaper reports as "Commander George Sims" Diss Express 17 November 1944 seems to have disappeared fairly early on.

Harold Arthur Sims is referred to in newspaper articles of the time as "the first American" to be awarded the MM in WWII.  31 July 1940 Newcastle Journal. The Lancashire Evening Post goes on to refer to him as the Grandson of Admiral W Sowden Sims who commanded the US Navy in European waters during the last war BUT Admiral Sims married in 1905 one Anne Hitchcock so any offspring from that marriage were unlikely to have fathered a son in 1919. 

Can anyone help by shedding any more light on Doris (aka Evelyn) , Arthur (aka George), or indeed Harold Arthur Sims 321186 Trooper/ L Corp Innisk Drag Guards. Evelyn Guy Sims died in 1969 age 77 Hartismere RD, Suffolk. 

K

[AMBLY]

An intriguing one this 

So recap: Doris ANDERSON, Evelyn Guy SIMS, Emma Guy SIMS - appears to be one woman, the mother of Denys Guy SIMS, aka Wilfred Dennis Guy SIMS b 1920 (and mother of Harold A SIMS b 1919) - and she's in Mellis, Hartismere around 1939. As Doris ANDERSON, she married 1918 in Brighton to one Arthur SIMS.

Wills and Probate Index, 1969
SIMS, Evelyn Guy  - see Emma Guy

SIMS, Emma Guy -  otherwise Evelyn Guy of The Lodge, Mellis R Thrandeston Suffolk, died 20 February 1969. Probate Ipswich 29th September.  Effects £3404

To pin her down, I'm interested in this one:

BIRTH BAPTISM 1891:
Emma Guy ANDERSON
Born East Grinstead, Sussex, GRO registered Brighton, mms GUY.
Baptised 29 March 1891, Brighton
Parents: Thomas ANDERSON and Ada Louisa.

CENSUS 1891: At 16 West Street, East Grinstead, Sussex
Head: Thomas ANDERSON 26, Tobacconist, b Durham City
Wife: Ada L ANDERSON, b Gateshead, Durham,
Dau: Mary ANDERSON 2, b Lambeth London
Dau: Emma G ANDERSON 3 mths, b East Grinstead, Sussex

CENSUS 1901: At The Ferns, East Drive, Brighton
Head: Thomas ANDERSON 36, Superintendant of Insurance Agents, b Durham City
Wife: Ada L ANDERSON 45,  b Gateshead Durham
Son: Frederick H ANDERSON 4,
Son: John ANDERSON 3,
Mother-In-Law: Emma Maria GUY 64, widow, Living on Own Means, b Hull, Yorks
Servant: Charlotte J WRIGHT 14, Nurse (Domestic) b London

CENSUS 1901: Their 2 daughters are at Boarding School,
An Elderly Governess and her sister who run the Ladies School, 9 young ladies aged 7 to 14 years, 2 teachers and 4 servants :  At 121 + 122 Marine Parade, Brighton
Boarder: Mary ANDERSON 12, b Brixton, Middlesex
Boarder: Emma ANDERSON 10, b Brighton

CENSUS 1911: At The Ferns, East Drive, Brighton
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7BY-HZH

PROBATE: 1929, of mother
Ada Louisa ANDERSON
Of The Ferns 16 East Drive, Brighton (wife of Thomas ANDERSON), died 29 Aug 1929, Probate Lewes 9 October to the said Thomas ANDERSON, Manager Providence Insurance Company and  Mary ANDERSON, Spinster. Effects £3335, 2s, 6d

PROBATE: 1938, of Father
Thomas ANDERSON
Of the Ferns, East Drive, Queens Park, Brighton, died 30 October 1938. Probate Lewes 29 November to Mary ANDERSON Spinster and John ANDERSON Assurance Superintendent. Effects £162, 7s, 8d

Can anyone see the marriage for the parents:
Thomas ANDERSON and Ada Louisa GUY?
( Daughter, Mary ANDERSON birth registered June Qtr 1889, Lambeth. mms GUY)

Or find Emma between 1901 and 1918?

Cheers
AMBLY

[Keziah2]

Wow thanks AMBLY

Explains where the ‘Guy’ came from.  Yes a mysterious affair with all the name changes and how come Harold A Sims was thought to be American? 

K

[AMBLY]

I'd be pretty much 99.9% certain Emma Guy ANDERSON is 'Doris'/'Evelyn' - would have been better to have her mentioned on say, the probate of her parents though!  The 1918 Marriage record would be interesting to see, or the actual births of the 2 boys, Harold & Denys.

There is no knowledge of what became of Harold?

Well, from my completely suspicious mind come this...

I think Harold was touted as the 'first American to win the Military Medal... because, his father was American - and by default, so was Harold so considered, in at least some quarters.

Furthermore - again no proof......

I think William Sowden SIMS,  might well the father of Denys and Harold or at least of Harold.

WSS can be placed in England from October 1917 until after the war was over.  He was retired in 1922 but he may have been in the UK still in 1920 when Denys was conceived born?
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/biographies-list/bios-s/sims--william-s-/sims-william-s-text.html

Because of his position in the Navy, social status, his marital status  -  I think he used the name Arthur and bigamously married the very much younger Emma Guy Anderson, who was using the name Doris,  in order to legitimise the child she bore him.  He was quite a handsome chap, WSS. Later on (after a bit of water under the bridge, after he had died)  he was referred to as "George"  as you mentioned:

According to a report of Denys' death in the Diss Express of 28 March 1941, Denys' father was the late Commander George Sims, who served with the US Navy in European waters during the 1914-18 war and died from the effects of wounds sustained in combat a few years later.

To my thinking, that's all too neat - when we know WSS was doing the very same thing  as 'George' -  with the US Navy in European waters during the 1914-18 war.

Food for thought!

Cheers
AMBLY

[Keziah2]

Thanks - the conclusion you draw is not an impossibility and yes WSS was certainly based in Europe during the First World War. 

Local history unearths so many secrets.  Interesting that probate has Emma Guy Sims living at The Lodge, Mellis in 1969.  That was a house with a tangled history!


K

[Keziah2]

AMBLY in answer to your question - can anyone find Emma between 1901 & 1918
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XWZ9-M96 
Could this be the first use of the name Doris?   Birthplace transcribed as St Grinstead!


Her parents are a mystery - perhaps it was a family trait . But thanks to all who have replied I know a lot more now than I did.


K

[Townshend]

Hello,

My Grandfather (never met him) was Harold Arthur Sims, some further information on him- he had a long article in The National Geographic, he worked in the circus with my Grandmother as "The man who feels no pain" putting needles through his face, swallowing swords, breathing fire and having my grandmother Marion Nedoma walk over him on a bed of nails.

He went on to work for the MI6 and nothing much is known about his work there, he died (I forget but it was around 1990) in Morocco where he was working undercover as a teacher.

He had two children Miranda Claire Sims (Now Miranda Claire Liggins) and Griselda Sims (now Kate Rich) He was gay but loved my grandmother but obviously their relationship broke down.

[Townshend]

Sorry also, the reason Harold and his brother (who died in the RAF, Harold received his medal the same day as his funeral) is American is because their grandfather was Admiral W Snowden Sims in the US navy during WW1 and his father was a commander in the US Navy. Harold didn't take British citizenship although he was born in Brighton. Marion Nedoma passed away in 2016 he two children are still alive, Kate in Cornwall and my mother Miranda in London