Geoffrey Fantham Sim (2 April 1911 – 27 March 2002) was a New Zealand politician of the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

Biography

Sim was born at Ngatapa near Gisborne in 1911. He received his education at

Morrinsville Morrinsville () is a provincial town in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. Morrinsville is a service town for the local dairy industry; the area surrounding the town has the highest concentration of dairy cattle in New Zealand. ...

, Pukekohe High School, and King's College. At the latter school, he was a

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

boxing champion. After school, he was a farmer at

Waimārama Waimārama is a seaside village in Hastings District, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. Waimārama is a popular surf beach, known as a beach break on a sandy beach, with a rocky point. It offers both left and right handers and conditions are often sui ...

, was involved in felling bush, was a driver in the Onewhero and

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

region, became head shepherd at Crossland Station near

Kaipara Harbour Kaipara Harbour is a large enclosed harbour estuary complex on the north western side of the North Island of New Zealand. The northern part of the harbour is administered by the Kaipara District and the southern part is administered by the Auck ...

, before working as a stock agent in

Waiuku Waiuku is a rural town in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of the Waiuku River, which is an estuary, estuarial arm of the Manukau Harbour, and lies on the isthmus of the Āwhitu Peninsula, which extends to th ...

. In World War II, he served in the Middle East. At

Sidi Rezegh Operation Crusader (18 November – 30 December 1941) was a military operation of the Western Desert campaign during World War II by the British Eighth Army (United Kingdom), Eighth Army (with Commonwealth, Indian and Allied contingents) agains ...

, he lost an eye, an arm, and the use of one leg. While he was in hospital, he became a prisoner of war. He returned to New Zealand in 1943. The National Party nominated him in the Rotorua electorate for the , where he was successful. At the end of the parliamentary term in 1946, the Rotorua electorate was abolished, and he successfully contested the Waikato electorate at the . He held Waikato until 1963, when that electorate was also abolished. In the , he successfully contested the electorate, and retired at the end of the next parliamentary term in 1966. From 1958 to 1960 he was Shadow Minister of Maori Affairs while National was in opposition. He was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The King's Service Order () established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant of Queen regnant, Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to t ...

for public services in the

1978 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1978 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, to celebrate the year passed and mark the begin ...

. Sim died in 2002.Obituary – Geoffrey Fantham Sim
''New Zealand Hansard'', 17 April 2002. Retrieved 2 July 2013.

Notes

References

* * , - , - 1911 births 2002 deaths New Zealand National Party MPs People educated at King's College, Auckland New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Companions of the Queen's Service Order New Zealand military personnel of World War II New Zealand prisoners of war in World War II 20th-century New Zealand politicians People educated at Pukekohe High School New Zealand politicians with disabilities {{NZNational-politician-stub