Leonard Sims
Leonard Sims, age 20½ months, with his mother and grandmother
Leonard Edward Montague Sims was the first of four sons for Monty and Emma Lucy Sims. He was born at 25 Ridley Road, Rochester on February 10, 1909.
As a child, Leonard attended the local Church of England School in Rochester, and went to the Sunday School, probably at Rochester Cathedral, since it was very close by. He was a Boy Scout and went to the usual camps. He took piano lessons, but without exhibiting any notable talent in that direction.
...Love divine all loves excelling, pure and spotless let us be...
Leonard would have been about ten when the family left Rochester to move to Southboro. There, until he was at least fourteen, he sang in the church choir.
At age 19, while still at school, Leonard suffered from a long illness and eventually died on September 5, 1928. He died, at home at Southview, Powder Mill Lane, Southbro, Kent. The cause of death was listed as (i) asthenia and amyloid degeneration of the bowel and liver and (ii) Pulmonary Tuberculosis heated after artificial pneumothoris in March. This may have followed from an accident in the chemistry lab at school.
His death was a shattering blow to his parents. While his mother worked hard to help the family, and particularly her husband, overcome the grief, Monty was never the same thereafter.
Leonard Sims, age 17