Brenda was born on 26 February 1932 at her family home, Red Cow Farm.

Her maternal grandparents, Frederick Charles Battlebury & Clara Frances Cantelo, were both born in Middlesex. Clara, who was known as Florence, is the suspected ancestor where Brenda's enviable brown skin & supposed “Italian blood” might come from. Frederick was involved in the family confectionary manufacturing trade. He came from a family of confectioners. Fredrick and Florence were married c1894 and had 10 children. Brendas mum, Lillian Grace (known as Grace), was the 3rd Child. She was born on Monday 4 October 1897 in Hackney, East London.   

Brenda's paternal grandfather Joseph married her grandmother Elizabeth, who was the sister of his first wife, after she died. Joseph & Elizabeth were tenant farmers at Red Cow Farm, which was then owned by a Mr Faulch. Red Cow Farm specialised in breeding Aylesbury ducks for the London hotel trade. Brenda's father Reginald was the last of six childen for Joe and the third for Elizabeth. He was born on Tuesday 24th May 1898 at Red Cow Farm. 

Red Cow Farm was located in Dunstable, approximately 30 miles from London. 

Here we can see Red Cow Farm, alongside the farmhouse and cottage. Lillian & Reginald also owned two fields- Hand Post Field and Front Meadow.

Red Cow Farm specialised in breeding Aylsbury Ducks- at one stage they had more of these ducks than anyone else in England. The duck business thrived and "Green Bros" became very well known in the area. The fields around Bidwell were white with ducks and this continued until the second world war. By the 1930s expansion had taken place to include dairy cows. Milk & eggs were being produced and delivered. Reginald developed a retail milk round in Dunstable and Houghton Regis.

Reginald worked 365 days a year, often working 16 hour days. He was a familiar figure around Dunstable with his horse and cart loaded up with churns of milk fresh from the cows. He would carry the milk into his customer’s kitchen and ladle it into their milk jug. Deliveries were made twice a day in the early days as people did not have fridges. Not forgetting that this also meant he milked the cows twice a day.

Brenda was the middle of three children, born on 26 February 1932 between Gladys (1924) & Donald (1935). Brenda grew up on Red Cow Farm.

When asked about growing up, Brenda said "I always felt like the “middle child”. My older sister was the oldest daughter & received accolades for her missionary work; my younger brother was the only boy which also came with benefits for him".

When she was about 3 years old her mum was very ill & had to have a kidney removed- which was one of the first operations of its kind. 

Red Cow Farm was a refuge for many during WW2. Brenda's uncle Frederick (the older brother of Brenda's mum Lillian) sent his wife Sarah (Sadie) and daughter, Margaret (born 1937) from London to stay at Red Cow Farm- Brenda, Donald and Margaret played together as children. 

Red Cow Farm also had two ‘air raid shelters’ which were built by her father. One was mostly underground with an arched roof made of steel and covered with earth so the grass grew all over and it was invisible from the air. Brenda spent a few cold nights in there with many of the neighbours. She also had a shelter in her sitting room. The allied bombers used to fly over Brenda's house in the late evenings, soon after she had gone to bed. On some occasions there were literally hundreds flying in formation right across the sky and quite low, always in a south-easterly direction towards Germany. The roar of their engines was something Brenda found unforgettable.

Living on a farm during the war also meant that there were always eggs & milk which meant Brenda was somewhat sheltered from the impact of war rationing and food shortages.

Towards the end of the war Brenda had several prisoners working on the farm and at neighbouring farms. They were delivered in the morning and collected at the end of the day. They worked hard and were generally happy and sociable to Brenda and her siblings. They were well looked after and some stayed on after the war ended.

Near the end of the war, Brenda's dad, Reg, was on his milk round in Dunstable. He left his milk can (which was full with about a couple of gallons of milk) on the pavement outside a customer’s house while he went round the back to collect some money. When he returned he found his milk flowing down the pavement out of the side of the can. A German fighter plane had flown up the High Street firing at people as they walked to work. He missed all the people but managed to put a bullet straight through Reg's can! Reg was quite upset... to lose his milk!

Because Brenda lived in the country things were very different. There were no restaurants and no shops. She didn’t have any toys. She loved getting up in the morning and doing things outside- picking buttercups, violet and cow slips; catching frogs, newts and tadpoles; nesting; hedgehodging; catting; playing “ball-y” and skipping.

She started doing these things as a little girl - around the age of seven - and would mostly do this with Don and the little girls up the road (Marg & Violet).

Brenda used to have regular piano lessons from an old chap called Mr Buckingham who used to live on the corner of Drury Lane in Houghton Regis.

At age 11, Brenda passed her 11+ exam and went to the Cedars School in Leighton Buzzard, a co-ed school.

We’ve been reliably informed that here began the decline of Brenda Mary. In Don's words: “By the age of 16 Brenda had already lost interest in the Cedar boys and started a systematic trawl through the talent at Dunstable Grammar School. By good fortune young Don started at the latter school around this time and was soon usefully employed delivering billets-doux to a selection of the prefects in assembly every morning”.

Brenda attended a commercial college after school and studied to become a secretary, learning short hand. Her first job was in a hospital in the reception area of the orthopaedic department - which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Brenda had initially aspired to work as a nurse. Apparently she had been booked into Radfield near Oxford to study nursing however didn’t do this, though couldn't remember why. She always had a natural preference for working in hospitals and with the sick and needy. Later in life Brenda particularly enjoyed working at the “Home for the Incurables” and worked for Baptist Homes with old people and also loved this.

During and immediately after the war, Brenda was unable to buy normal things in the shops as virtually everything was rationed especially clothes, food and petrol. As thing gradually improved, fashionable clothes became available again. There had been 12 years of austerity with no choice and nonexistent fashion. Around 1951/2 the big thing in ladies fashion was ‘the new look’.  Brenda's mum took her to get a new outfit. She came home with a new tailored suit, a bottle green colour, with neat jacket nipped in at the waist, cream lacey blouse and a long fitted skirt. Don says “Even I remembered it so it must have been rather special”. Brenda also got her hair permed as part of this look. (Brenda continued to have her hair permed for another 60 years!)

This picture in the middle is of Brenda wearing her new outfit. The photographer kept it in the front window of his shop for some time for all to see. This is the girl Roy fell in love with.

Roy and Brenda met when Roy came back to Red Cow Farm with some other friends from Wales for the weekend. Roy had been invited by Brenda's sister Gladys. Roy met Brenda late at night and it was a most unexpected encounter for both of them. Roy's first impressions of Brenda was that she was very pretty & sophisticated. And in Don's words, “This was the end of Brenda’s quest for her perfect specimen. The curly headed one with the cheeky smile, what a smoothie, soon made a lasting impression on this young lady, and her Mum, as I recall”.

Brenda described first meeting Roy at her parents house. He came back with a group of young people from Wales; She said that thier eyes met across a crowded room and it was more or less love at first sight. Brenda was dating “George” at the time, who was serving in the army. Brenda said that she said goodbye to George one Sunday & sent him off on the train to war service then raced to visit Roy at Church. Roy walked Brenda home and kissed her for the first time – “he didn’t waste any time”, Brenda recalled.

In 1949 Roy trained in London as a meteorologist & this is where friendship with Brenda really began to bloom. Courtship wasn’t easy because they lived 150 miles apart. Early contact wasmostly by letter and phone calls, which were expensive & limited to three minutes at a time.  After military service Roy took a job close to where Brenda lived and found a lodging in the next village.

But the rest, they say, is history. Roy and Brenda were married on 17 July 1954.

Roy and Brenda's first home was 32 Sundown Rd Dunstable. At that time Roy was playing soccer on a semi professional basis and saved all the money he earned from  football to go towards a home. Brenda was working as a receptionist in a hospital and matched Roy's earnings dollar for dollar. This is how they saved enough money to buy thier first home, which they moved into immediately after returning from thier honeymoon.

Brenda described the house as "a cold ice block house"- a three bedder with no heating. They lived here for about five years during which time Judy and Rosemary were born.

Eldest child, daughter Judith Anne was born on 2 July 1956.

Approximately 18 months later, on 11 February 1958, second child daughter Rosemary Joy was born.

Soon after, the Sims family moved to 73 Elmdene Rd Kenilworth, instigated by a change in jobs for Roy.

Third child, son Richard Byron Mark was born on 25 January 1964 when living in Kenilworth.

Around 1967, the Sims family moved to 4 Ash Tree Rd, Oadby in Leicester.

Brenda loved being a parent. She later stated that her favourite stage of life was when her kids were young- "when I had more control". She said she always called Judy and Rosemary "Mum's girls" and was immensely proud of them both.

Brenda and Roy provided a Christian upbringing to their family, and their home exudedChristian values and hospitality.

In her 80s, Brenda described "her family" and "being a good Mum" as her greatest life achievements. 

Brenda's famous "name change" occurred in her early 40s. She said she was feeling bored & neglected. Roy would travel a lot for work & Brenda ran out of things to decorate, dye or rearrange.

Brenda reported that name options included: Primula, Lavender and Daisy. She said she would answer to any flower name and that sometimes people would call her other flower names, like Primrose.

Brenda never regretted the decision to change her name "because I didn’t like the name Brenda, anyway".

Apparently Roy said the name was “lovely...but Ill have to get used to it”.

The Sims family moved to Australia, in 1971, originally thought to be a temporary assignment for a period of about threeyears.

However they decided to stay.

This is 6 Apollo Place Eastwood, the Sims' first family house in Australia.

Roy and Primula went on to other houses after this- in particular, Glenvale Close in West Pennant Hills followed by retirement home in Glenhaven Gardens on Mills Road, Glenhaven.

Life in Australia suited Prim. In particular, she loved the hot weather!

In 1978, her daughter Judy was married to Peter McMahon.

Not long after, daughter Rosemary was married to Oskars Vidins. Afer being widowed, Rosemary married Ivica Peteranec. 

Prim was the matriarch to nine grandchildren- twins Rachel and Sarah McMahon, Peter Vidins, Deborah McMahon, Thomas Vidins, Philip Vidins, Stephen McMahon...

... and then Benjamin Peteranec and Anna-Rose Peteranec. Prim maintained close and meaningful relationships with all of her grandchildren. She and Roy would affectionally sign off as "Prim and Poppa".

In October 1984 Roy and Prim bought 59 Kent Gardens Soldiers Point- originally known as "The Shack" and later rebranded as "The White House".

This was the place of many happy and extended family holidays where the Sims family and descendants discovered just how many people could be squeezed into a two bedroom house!

After Roy retired, they shared many happy memories- especially some great holidays in Europe and America. Israel had a special place in their hearts and they travelled there many times.

Roy's thoughts of the “glue” that kept the family together were the shared values they bought to the relationship and the shared responsibility of children to care for, especially when struggling with government authorities in England for social justice for Richy. 

Primula's secrets of a happy marriage were "patience and forbearing".

Primula and Roy were married for almost 64 years.

Primula has touched many lives and leaves a legacy of love and family.

In addition to her three children and nine grand children, Primula will remain the much loved "Old Nan" to 11 great grand kids... nd no doubt many more great grand kids in the future.

A great deal of the information shared in these slides was prepared for a "This is Your Life So Far" presentation that we presented to Nan and Pop for their combined 80th Birthday. This was attended by all of their descendants in Noosa during 2012. Special thanks to the relatives and family friends listed on this slide. Each sharing memories and photographs that enriched this content considerably.