The Simmies of Simmie & Co and Harpsdale

The history of this Simmie family, its building company, farmland and homestead narrates the notable contribution to the development mosaic of Victoria, and to the building of Canberra. From their arrival from Scotland in 1852, the Simmie family across all of its branches, applied the famous Scottish traits of hard work, innovation, thrift and industry to build a better place for their families, their communities and their adopted new homeland. Like all families, they have experienced good times and bad, times of war and poor economic times, the challenges of farming in the Australian environment, and the ups and downs of family life itself. Yet this is a very Australian story, and hopefully one that this website will help illuminate into future years.