Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Muriel Mary Simcox was born on 7 July 1874, at sea between England and New Zealand, the second daughter of William Henry and Frances Mary (née Colenso) Simcox. English=born William and New Zealand born Frances who married in 1870 at the Maori Mission station at Paihia, Northland, New Zealand, were called to England soon after on the death of his father. Some four years and two children later, they returned to New Zealand, Millicent being born on the trip. After settling in the Bay of Islands they moved to Otaki in 1878 and remained the area for the remainder of their lives. Three daughters and three sons were born in new Zealand to William and Frances. In 1879 Mr Simcox was elected to the Otaki School committee. Was this William? Was it at Otaki School that the children were educated?

In early February 1887 at the Industrial Exhibition held in connection with the Sunday Schools, Millicent Mary Simcox, Otaki, was awarded first prize in Grade II, 10 to 15 years, for books of ferns, &c. John Colenso Heath Simcox, Milllicent’s brother, died on 3 September 1893 at Otaki, late of Collegiate School, Wanganui, aged 15 years. William Martin Simcox (William), the eldest son of the family, also attended Wanganui Collegiate School and served in the South African War. Their brothers Francis Selwyn Simcox and Edwin Percivale Simcox also attended Wanganui Collegiate School. “When Twilight Comes," Miss M. Simcox, is rather a difficult song, yet she mastered it fairly well and sang sweetly – this was the opinion of an Otaki lady telling of their school concert held in the Town Hall on 7 September 1894, in aid of playground funds. In August 1896, Miss Millicent Simcox of Otaki was engaged to Mr Percy Hulme, f the Bank of Australasia, Wellington.

In January 1906, Millicent and her sister Beatrice were callers at the high Commissioner’s office in London. Miss M. Simcox was competitive in lawn tennis from at least 1907. Her father had also been a tennis player, as was her brother Martin and possibly other family members. Millicent was residing at Timaru in 1914. At the annual meeting of the Timaru Tennis Club on 26 September 1916, it was noted in the report that the Roll of Honour of the Club included one member who had been killed in action and twenty-one others who were on active service, Miss Simcox among them. Millicent Simcox may have joined Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service, a branch of which was formed in India during the First World War. In January 1916 the engagement was announced of Miss Millicent Simcox, daughter of Mr and Mrs W. H. Simcox, Forest Lakes, Otaki, to Mr H. Coldicott, of Bombay, India. “Miss Simcox is at present engaged in nursing at the Egyptian Government Hospital at Zag-a-Zig, near Cairo.” In 1949, the Queen Alexandra’s service was redesignated as the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Service.

‘Miss Simcox of Otaki, who has been nursing in the Egyptian Hospital of Zagazig for over ten months says the heat — from 110deg. to 115deg. at night — has been awful; bad enough for those who were well, but it tried the strength of the badly wounded men. She still intends to go on ‘doing her bit,’ and has signed on for three months’ longer nursing. Her duties are from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. She finds it difficult to get refreshing sleep in the day time, as the natives make many noises during the day. Her health is fairly good. — “Mail.”’ [Manawatu Times. 22 Sep 1916.] Miss Simcox of Otaki, acted as bridesmaid at the wedding at St Mark’s Church, Alexandria on 1 August 1916 of a Napier lady and an Englishman who was assistant superintendent of the Egyptian State Railway.

“Miss M. M. Simcox (Otaki) is returning to New Zealand. She left New Zealand in August, 1915, and was nursing in Egypt until the end of 1916, when she came to England via Italy and France. Miss Simcox has continued her nursing here, but the climate does not suit her after the heat of Egypt.” [Press. 10 Dec 1917.] After working in Egypt for 15 months, she went to England in 1916, but through working so hard her health had given way. Miss M. Simcox was an “Indulgence Passenger” on Returned Draft No. 129 (an invalid draft from England), which arrived at Auckland on 4 January 1918 and was due at Wellington on 6 January. She was a member of the Voluntary Aid Division (probably while she was in England) and did duty with the New Zealand Army Nursing Service on the journey to New Zealand. She soon returned to visit her family at Otaki. ‘The following advertisement so amused a party of New Zealanders and others while at Sierra Leone that Miss Simcox, of Otaki, who returned with them, took a copy: — “Bungie, the sympathetic undertaker; general builder for the living and the dead; general contractor — always on the spot. At Bungie’s, the sympathetic undertaker, you can always get a readymade coffin from 10s 6d to fifty guineas. Bungie will wash, dress, and look after your dead till it gets to its last resting-place. Bonnets, shrouds, knickers, etc., supplied, also a good quantity of coffin furniture. Eat, drink, and enjoy yourself. Remember, once you die, and after death, Bungie takes charge. Call at once at the refuge and refreshing bungalow, 15 Kissey street." [Press. 21 January 1918.]

Millicent’s sister Christine Isobel Simcox, who had done missionary work at Norfolk Island prior to her marriage then lived in the Argentine after her marriage, her husband dying there, died suddenly in Wellington in December 1917, just 41 years old. At a committee meeting of the Otaki Returned Soldiers Association in late August 1919, Nurse Simcox and two Sisters were elected free honorary members. ‘Miss Simcox, of Otaki, who did most valuable service with the N.Z. V.A.D., both in Egypt and England, has received two bars for service rendered in Egypt, and has also received her 1914 service and victory ribbon decorations.’ [Manawatu Standard. 8 March 1920.] Edwin Percivale Simcox, Milicent’s youngest brother, also served in World War One.

Come 1925 and Millicent was back residing at Timaru. Milicent Mary Simcox married Henry Saxon Whitehorn, 1925, St Mary’s Church, Timaru. This was, it seems, third time luck for Millicent. Her brother Francis Selwyn Simcox had married Henry’s sister Helen Kate Whitehorn in 1907. Millicent Mary Whitehorn died on 6 October 1959 at Waikanae, aged 85 years. She was buried in a services plot at the Otaki Public Cemetery, where a services plaque marks her grave – 37/4984 Sister Millicent M. Whitehorn Q. A. R. A. N. S. Died 6. 10. 1959 Aged 85 yrs. Major Henry Saxon Whitehorn, who had served with the New Zealand forces in the war, died in 1954 and was buried at Karori Cemetery, Wellington. William Henry Simcox who died in 1923 and Frances Mary in 1928 were buried in the old cemetery at Otaki.

Sources

NZ Mail, 4 February 1887, 8 September 1893, 14 September 1894, 27 August 1896, Dominion, 8 January 1916, Evening Post, 17 January 1916, Manawatu Times, 22 September 1916, Timaru Herald, 27 September 1916, Hawke’s Bay Tribune, 30 September 1916, Press, 10 December 1917, 21 January 1918, Dominion, 11 & 27 December 1917, 5, 10 & 15 January 1918, NZ Times, 12 December 1917, Otaki Mail, 1 September 1919, 4 July 1923, Manawatu Standard, 8 March 1920 (Papers Past) [26, 28 & 29 May 2024]; ancestry records (ancestry.com.au) [28 May 2024]: Otaki Cemetery burial records [28 May 2024]; Otaki Cemetery headstone image (Kapiti Coast District Council) [28 May 2024]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [28 May 2024]

External Links

• Military personnel file

Related Documents

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Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

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