The Sims Stories

My name is Kenneth Ross (Ken) Sims, and many years ago I began a journey to discover my family history. It began after my parents’ deaths by reflecting on just how much we know about each other. We might share experiences, mementos, photographs and fading memories. But what about who we are, rather than what we are. What we think, feel and value, rather than what we see. And what do we know about the generations before our present ones? I guess that this is an attempt to address some of that from my own personal point of view.

That quickly turned into a journey through our respective family histories, although at the start I really had no idea just how big that would get, how many amazing stories that would tell, and how many amazing places that would take me.

Our family (myself and Sharon Elmar French) represents the melding of the

• Sims/Watson
• Falleni
• French
• Miller
• And their associated families

who all arrived from other countries and settled in New Zealand, and who all have their own stories to tell. This site is an attempt to share some of those stories with the wider family and community.

My first set of stories (The Landscapes of My Life) is an autobiography and immediate family history.

The second set (Early Arrivals) tries to capture the stories of when and why our ancestors came to New Zealand, and what they did when they got here.

The third set of stories (My Ancient Origins) looks at the rapidly advancing study of genetics in terms of what that says about my ancient ancestors.

The fourth set (Our Ancestors Stories) tells the stories of more ancient ancestors than set two.

There may well be more to follow!

I have spent a lot of time researching what has been written on this site. Not quite as disciplined research as I would have ideally liked, but it is what I could afford in terms of time, finance and opportunity. I started this journey out of curiosity about my own family history, which I knew little about. And it seems a shame not to share some of what I have found. But while as much as possible of the information is verified by ‘official’ records, that doesn’t automatically mean that they are correct. You remain hostage to the vagaries of mistaken identities, transcription error, human misinterpretation, personal memories and the research of others, upon which much of these stories rely.

Nor is it as comprehensive as I would wish, but it has reached the limits of what I can comfortably fit into the time and opportunity I have. It is an attempt to put some boundaries around an endless story. As anyone researching their family history will know, it is never complete, finished, or all-encompassing.

But I hope that it gives you a taste of the very different lives some of our ancestors lived. As anyone who has investigated their family trees will tell you, ‘families are complicated!’ Not all of the stories or the people they portray are ‘nice’ and ‘pretty’. But they have to be seen in the context of the times and beliefs of when they were lived and not judged by current, personal standards and values.

Mostly, I hope that it stimulates you into looking further into your own histories and to fill in some of the gaps with your own family stories. I would welcome feedback on the contents, particularly any glaring mistakes, of which, despite my best endeavours, there are bound to be some. And also, stories, images and information to expand on the lives these people lived, what they achieved, and how they achieved it. The stories can always be updated.

Ken Sims