The sixth Bishop of Auckland was a somewhat enigmatic man. He earned
unlimited respect and admiration for his managerial skills and his devotion to
the church, but was a rather remote, autocratic and gruff figure who managed to
stir up the ire of many within the Church.
Born in Rugeley, Staffordshire, England, he was educated at nearby Lichfield Theological College (founded 1857; closed 1976) and was awarded his LTh from Durham. From 1901 to 1908 he was a solicitor's clerk, which may have encouraged his keen interest in canon law. He was ordained Deacon at Lichfield on 14th June 1908 and Priested there on 19th September 1909. He served his curacy at Christ Church, Stafford, in the Diocese of Lichfield, where he became particularly interested in the life and work of G.A. Selwyn, former Bishop of New Zealand and Lichfield.
In 1911 he migrated to New Zealand to become Vicar of Wairoa, and from 1918 to 1926 was Secretary, Treasurer, Registrar and Mission Chaplain of the Diocese of Waiapu. He was made Archdeacon of Hawkes Bay in 1919, the year he married Florence Emberton (1889 - 1970/1).
The Revd Simkin proved to have remarkable business acumen, and in 1926 Archbishop Averill brought him to Auckland as Archdeacon
of Manukau, Diocesan Secretary, and Provincial Secretary to General Synod.
It
was in another role, as Secretary to the St John's College Trust Board, that he
truly proved his strength as an adminstrator, bringing it back from the brink of
financial disaster and imminent closure, and setting in train a business model
which has given it much of the strength and position it has today. For his work he was granted in 1947 the rare accord of election as a Fellow - a particularly poignant award for a man who suffered from a sense of inadequacy
for his lack of a university degree.
He was appointed Private Chaplain to Archbishop Averill in 1929, and on St Barnabas' Day, 11th
June 1940, he was consecrated in St Mary's Cathedral Church, succeeding Averill as Bishop of Auckland. Upon his consecration the Bishop and Mrs Simkin donated to the Cathedral the gold processional cross which is on display near inside the Patteson Entrance to the Cathedral.
Bishop Simkin was moderately high church with a rather heavy and formal style of preaching who devoted himself entirely to the Church. He was an excellent chairman and president of Synod and was quite resolute in doing what he thought right. He worked very hard to secure Miss Mina Tait Horton's bequest for the building of the Cathedral and eventually laid the Foundation Stone on 13th June 1957, the Centenary of the signing of the Constitution of the Church in New Zealand. He was also instrumental in gaining the Grant of Arms for the Auckland Diocese, on display inside the entrance to the Cathedral. He retired to Taupo on 31st March 1960.
Much respected by Maoris, Bishop Simkin was extremely generous, privately financing boys through King's College and St John's Theological College. However, he caused controversy at times with his autocratic style and his tendency to favour those he assisted. He was reported by Bishop Monteith to have been disappointed that he did not become Archbishop, and that his protegée did not succeed him as Bishop of Auckland.
Bishop Simkin was made CMG (Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George) in 1965, and died in 1967. He is buried with his wife beside the entrance to the chapel at St John's College.
Blain's Biographical Directory of Clergy of the South Pacific was used in writing this biography.
Other information provided verbally by the Rt Revd G.R. Monteith (1904 - 2003).
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