EVER since the late 1800s the Simmons clan have been the centre of influence in the Evans Bay, Southampton West area. On Sunday the kinfolk had special reason to get together for an event hosted by Mrs. Enid Simmons, the present-day doyenne of the family.

The event was to welcome back home William Braxton Simmons, who since 1960 has been making his home first in New Jersey, then in Mansfield, Texas.

Braxton, or 'Brackie' as he is best known, decided the sentimental journey was a necessity when his American-born wife Dorothy Cherry passed away eight months ago after 40 years of marriage. So he brought along his son Braxton, Jr., his wife Pamela and their three children, Laura, 14, Travis, 13, and seven-year-old Brianna.

They have all had a ball meeting up with their uncles and aunts and dozens of cousins. In addition, they have been soaking up the sea around the rocks at Evans Bay and the nearby beaches, which is a far cry from the pool-side recreation they are accustomed to in Texas.

In order to streamline matters, Mrs. Enid Simmons said she focused on a reception for the direct descendants of Alice DeSilva Simmons, who died at the young age of 43, after bearing six children for Arnold Simmons, who had predeceased her. Alice was the daughter of a Portuguese woman and a black Bermudian man.

The eldest of Alice's six was Wilfred Simmons, the late husband of Enid. Brackie Simmons was the fifth child in that family, the youngest being Hewlett Simmons, who lives with his wife Suzan at Pearman's Hill, Warwick.

Enid, incidentally, made her mark in Bermuda's social history early in life. She was then Enid Courtney of Pembroke, and judged to be the most beautiful young woman in the country. That was in 1939 when she was crowned Miss Sepia Bermuda, in what was one of the first-ever beauty contests held locally.

Its promoter was the popular Stanley Gilbert, who set the mould for such other eminent promoters as Mrs. Olive Trott, the late Walter (Dickie) Greene, and now Terry Smith.

We need hardly say without being personal, that the 65-plus years that have elapsed since Enid became Miss Sepia Bermuda have only served to accentuate her natural charms and grace that served her well as a successful career woman in the travel industry, and even more now as an adorable mother, grandmother and, as we said before, the doyenne of the large Simmons clan. Back to Brackie Simmons: He was one of the so-called fabulous 49 teenaged Bermudians who had not long begun their apprenticeships at the old Royal Naval Dockyard at Ireland Island, when the British Government decided to close down the Bermuda outpost.

Brackie was one of the 49 sent to Portsmouth Dockyard, England in 1950 aboard the liner MV Georgic. In 1953 after five years' overall training he qualified as a shipwright. He returned home, worked at his trade in private industry, and following a short spell with the Bermuda Police Service, he migrated to New Jersey.

About four or five other apprentices pursued broader horizons overseas, mainly in the US, among them Earlston Burrows and Glentice (Mickey) Scotland. The remainder settled down in Bermuda, established their own businesses or became leaders in various Government and private enterprises and officers in the Police Service.

Brackie took time to contact some of his old Dockyard comrades during his whirlwind visit and to be brought up to date on some of the plans they have in hand to commemorate their involvement in an important phase of Bermuda's history.