Wilfred John Simkin CMG (15 June 1883 – 8 July 1967) was the 6th Anglican Bishop of Auckland whose episcopate spanned a 20-year period during the middle of the 20th century.[1] Born in Staffordshire he was educated at St. Oswald's School, (later Ellesmere College, Ellesmere, Shropshire[2]) and Lichfield Theological College[3] before embarking on an ecclesiastical career with a curacy at Christ Church, Stafford.[4] Emigrating to New Zealand in 1911 he was successively Vicar of Wairoa, Private Chaplain to the Bishop of Waiapu and Archdeacon of Hawkes Bay/Manukau before appointment to the See of Auckland in 1940. He was consecrated bishop on 11 June 1940.[5] An enigmatic man,[6] he worked tirelessly to complete the building of Holy Trinity Cathedral.
In the 1965 Queen's Birthday Honours, Simkin was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, for services to the community.[7]