Sir Arthur Sims (27 July 1877 – 27 April 1969) was a New Zealand

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er, businessman and philanthropist.

Early life

Sims was born in 1877 in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, England, the second son of Samuel and Louisa Sims, who were farmers. In 1880 they migrated to New Zealand, where Samuel managed a farm near Kaitangata in

South Otago South Otago lies in the south east of the South Island of New Zealand. As the name suggests, it forms the southernmost part of the geographical region of Otago. The exact definition of the area designated as South Otago is imprecise, as the area is ...

that belonged to James Rutherford, a member of the

New Zealand House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes Law of New Zealand, laws, provides Ministers of the New Zealand Government, ministers to form Cabinet of New Zealand, Cabinet, and supervises the ...

. In 1884, after Rutherford died, the family moved to

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

, where Samuel managed the farm near Ashburton owned by another politician,

John Grigg John Edward Poynder Grigg (15 April 1924 – 31 December 2001) was a British writer, historian and politician. He was the 2nd Baron Altrincham from 1955 until he disclaimed that title under the Peerage Act on the day it received Royal Assen ...

, one of the founders of the New Zealand frozen meat industry. Arthur attended his local school until he won a scholarship to

Christchurch Boys' High School , motto_translation = I Seek Higher Things , type = State school, Day and Boarding school , gender = Boys , song = The School We Magnify , colours = Blue and Black , established = , address = 71 Straven R ...

. He moved to

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

in 1890, boarding with family friends during the school term and returning home during the holidays. He played for the school First XI for several years, scoring over 1000 runs and taking over 100 wickets in his last two years and captaining the team in his final year, 1895. After he left school, John Grigg helped him find a clerical position with the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company in Christchurch. While working at the meat works Sims studied in the evenings at

Canterbury College Canterbury College may refer to: * Canterbury College (Indiana), U.S. * Canterbury College (Waterford), Queensland, Australia * Canterbury College (Windsor, Ontario), Canada * Canterbury College, Kent, England * Canterbury College, Oxford, England ...

. He gained his BA and continued on to an MA. After that he studied accountancy and became a qualified accountant.

Career

Sims played cricket for

, New Zealand and, in 1914, for Australia. In 1913–14 he captained an Australian XI in New Zealand, putting on 433 runs for the 8th wicket in 181 minutes with

Victor Trumper Victor Thomas Trumper (2 November 1877 – 28 June 1915) was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found ...

in the match against Canterbury, which remains the world record for that wicket in first-class cricket. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the 1950

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

" r services to medicine and education in the

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

." He founded the Sir Arthur Sims Scholarship for graduates of Australian and Canadian universities to study in the United Kingdom. A biography, ''84 Not Out: The Story of Sir Arthur Sims, Kt.'' by Alan Mitchell, was published in 1962.

References

External links

* * *
Sims, Sir Arthur (1877–1969)
from ''

Plarr's Lives of the Fellows ''Plarr's Lives of the Fellows'' is a biographical register of the fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England that contains over 9,000 obituaries.' The first printed volumes of the work were produced by Victor Plarr Victor Gustave Plar ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Sims, Arthur 1877 births 1969 deaths New Zealand cricketers Pre-1930 New Zealand representative cricketers Australian cricketers Canterbury cricketers People from West Lindsey District Cricket players and officials awarded knighthoods People from East Hoathly New Zealand Knights Bachelor