Sim, William Alexander

Birth Details
1891/1341, Wilfrid Joseph Sim, Mother: Frances Mary, Father: William Alexander - Date of Birth 3/11/1890 from Birth Registration

Death Details
1928/5111, William Alexander Sim, Aged: 69Y - Date of Death 29/8/1928 from Death Registration

Dunedin City Council Cemetery Records
Surname SIM
Forename WILLIAM ALEXANDER
Age 86 Years
Gender Male
Date of Death 29 Aug 1928
Last Address MUSSELBURGH RISE, DUNEDIN
Next of Kin
Funeral Director Hugh Gourley Ltd, Grant Street, DUNEDIN
Cemetery ANDERSONS BAY CEMETERY
Location Block 10. Plot 1
Date of Burial 31 Aug 1928
Type
Ashes Burial
Occupation
Place of Birth
Date of Birth Not recorded
Notes
Original reference:- C192809002
Occupation:- JUDGE
Native of:- WANGANUI
Place died:- ROYAL OAK HOTEL
The following burials are also in this Plot
DENNISTON FRANCES DOROTHY 76 Years Ashes Burial 14 Jun 1963
PRYOR JAMES JOHN 66 Years Burial 29 Dec 1905
SIM FRANCES MARY 75 Years Ashes 2 Dec 1933
SIM FRANCIS Not recorded Ashes Burial 10 Dec 1933
WALTERS MARTHA 77 Years 17 June 1898

Evening Post 30 August 1928
OBITUARY
SIR WILLIAM SIM
SENIOR SUPREME COURT JUDGE
Widespread regret will be felt at the death of Sir William Sim, senior Judge of the Supreme Court of New-Zealand, which occurred rather suddenly last evening. His Honour heard a case in the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Yesterday he felt ill and remained at his hotel, where he died at about half-past 7 in the evening.
Before his appointment to the Supreme Court Bench in 1911, Mr. Justice Sim had a laborious and successful career at the Bar, which extended to about thirty years. As a lawyer, he stood high in the front rank, and to a wide and accurate knowledge of the law he added much general culture.
Sir William Sim, who was born at Wanganui in 1858, served his apprenticeship in the office of Mr. Borlase at Wanganui, and qualified as a solicitor at the age of 19. Moving to Dunedin fifty years ago, he formed an association with Sir Robert Stout, which was only broken when the latter became Chief Justice in 1899. This associa-
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Photo
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S. P. Andrew, Photo.
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caption
THE LATE SIR WILLIAM SIM.
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tion began when Mr. Sim entered the office of Messrs. Sievwright and Stout as chief common law clerk. On the dissolution of that firm, he became a member of the firm of Stout, Mondy, and Sim, which soon became one of the leading law firms in Dunedin. Sir John Findlay joined the firm after it had opened a branch in Wellington, under the firm name of Stout, Mondy, Sim, and Findlay, and this firm became one of the best-known in New Zealand. Mr. Sim was recognised as a sound lawyer, with a grasp of legal principles and a great power of assimilating and analysing facts.
In 1907, Mr. Sim was appointed Judge of the Court of Arbitration, and the period during, which he held that office may be regarded as probably the most arduous of his career. In an article published in the New Zealand Law Journal of April last the following comment appears: "It is now more than twenty years since Sir William Sim entered upon his judicial career, and it may be said with confidence that the promise with which it opened has been fully justified, and that with the steady enlargement of his learning and his experience he has gone from strength to strength without the slightest suggestion of weakening of any kind."
Sir William Sim has left a widow, three sons - Mr. W. J. Sim, solicitor, Christchurch; Mr. R. Sim, Straits Settlement; and Mr. J. A. Sim, solicitor, Dunedin; and one daughter, Mrs. G. Denniston, Christchurch. Messrs. Peter, Grant, and Robert Sim, of Wanganui, are brothers.
The funeral will take plate at Dunedin on Saturday.

Evening Post 30 August 1928
HIGH ENCOMIUMS
Striking tributes to the late Sir William Sim were paid in the Supreme Court to-day by his Honour Mr. Justice MacGregor and the Attorney-General (the Hon. F. J. Rolleston). Associated with Mr. Justice MacGregor on the Bench were his Honour Mr. Justice Smith and Sir William Stringer (who has retired from the Supreme Court Bench), while there was a large gathering of members of the legal profession, including Sir John Findlay, K.C., Mr. A. Fair, K.C., Solicitor-General, Mr. A. Gray, K.C., and Mr. M. Myers, K.C., and the local Magistrates.
"The occasions are fortunately rare when members of the Bar are called upon to meet under circumstances as sad and as tragic as those under which we meet this morning," said Mr. Rolleston. "The removal by death of one who, no less than two days ago, was occupying a seat on the Bench of this Court is, I think, a tragedy which will deeply move the members of the Bar throughout the Dominion, and also the members of the public. At such short notice, and under the shadow of this great loss, I feel myself unable to pay an adequate tribute to one who for over twenty years occupied a seat on the Bench, one who adorned the Bench of Justice, and who earned the fullest confidence, and respect of all who were privileged to practice before him. Your honours, I could wish that the task of paying a tribute to the memory of Sir William Sim were in abler hands than mine. The life and work of the late Judge, his industry, his high sense of duty, and, above all, his passion for justice, will be an abiding memory to members of the Bench and the Bar, and to the people of the Dominion. In the full possession of his faculties, with his vigour unabated and his powers undimmed, he has been called to his long rest. To-day, we who have practiced before him for so many years, and who have learned to know and to admire him, are met together to tender, through your honours and your colleagues, our sincerest sympathy in the great loss which we know you and we have sustained.
Mr. Rolleston mentioned that he had received a letter from the former Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) expressing regret that through illness he was unable to be present to join in the tribute to his old partner and friend, Sir William Sim. The speaker hoped that the presence of the gathering, and the united sympathy which it indicated, would be some small consolation to the sorrowing widow and family.
"DIED IN HARNESS."
Mr. Justice MacGregor said that they were gathered in sadness of heart to do honour to the memory of one to whom all honour was due at their hands. "The learned Judge who has just passed away from among us had long been a tower of strength on this judicial Bench," said his Honour. "His place there will be hard to fill. His clear intellect, his wide knowledge of law, and his terse and lucid diction, were combined with unflagging industry and absorption in his week. Almost literally, he died in harness. It is to be feared, indeed, that his devotion to duty cut short a valuable life. For many weeks past it was obvious to those around him that his health was failing, but he strove to the end to do his appointed task, until exhausted Nature failed. It is altogether right and fitting, accordingly, that we should do prompt honour to his memory. I desire, therefore, in all sincerity to associates my colleagues and myself with the eloquent and kindly words that have fallen from Mr. Rolleston. For my own part, 1 was closely associated with Sir William Sim for more than forty years, both in Dunedin and in Wellington — at the Bar and on the Bench. I had long since learned to appreciate and admire his judicial mind, his scholarly attainments, and his untiring industry. Of late, inde de (sic), I knew that he was looking forward to his early retirement, to a period of rest after labour. But it was not to be. He has been taken away from us in the full ripeness of his powers, and we shall one and all deeply feel his loss. What that loss must be to his bereaved widow and family one can only faintly conjecture. All that we can do now is to extend to them our sincere and heartfelt sympathy in their great affliction."
The Court then adjourned.
The Magistrate''s Court was adjourned for an hour this morning as a mark of respect to the memory of the late Sir William Sim.

Death Details
1933/21407, Frances Mary Sim, Aged: 75Y - Date of Death 2/12/1933 from Death Registration

Dunedin City Council Cemetery Records
Surname SIM
Forename FRANCES MARY
Age 75 Years
Gender Female
Date of Death 2 Dec 1933
Last Address 29 MUSSELBURGH RISE, DUNEDIN
Next of Kin
Funeral Director Hugh Gourley Ltd, Grant Street, DUNEDIN
Cemetery ANDERSONS BAY CEMETERY
Location Block 10. Plot 1
Date of Burial 4 Dec 1933
Type Ashes Burial
Occupation
Place of Birth
Date of Birth Not recorded
Notes
Original reference:- C193312001
Occupation:- WIDOW
Native of:- AUSTRALIA
Years in NZ:- 48
Place died:- RESIDENCE

Evening Post 4 December 1933
Obituary.
The death of Lady Sim at Dunedin, which occurred yesterday, loses to the world a woman of excellent intellect and attainments. She published several books, and was a writer on serious subjects of interest and power. She was a recognised authority on the life and works of Robert Browning, and one of her books was on this subject. Many friends in Wellington and other parts of the Dominion, as well as in Great Britain, will feel her loss. Her sympathy and kindness, and her charm of conversation will be much missed. Her visits to Wellington, which were all too few of late years, were a pleasure to many people. Lady Sim was the widow of the late Sir William Sim, a former Judge of the Supreme Court. She was born at Stawell, Victoria, in 1858, and was the daughter of the late Mr. Joseph Waters. She was married in 1886, and took up her residence in Dunedin, and resided there ever since, with the exception of a number of visits to England.