Simon FABICH who was born on the 2 Oct 1839 in Kokoszki (Kokoszkowy), (nowadays known as Starogard, Gdanski, Poland), married Marianna SZACHTA on the 30 Oct 1864. They departed from Hamburg on the 12 Apr 1876 aboard the ship Fritz Reuter to arrive in New Zealand on the 4 Aug 1876.

Two years after living in Hokitika Simon moved to New Plymouth to work on the construction of Pukekura Park, staying at the Immigration Hostel, then moved to Inglewood.

Also working hard to earn money on many other ventures, on the construction of roads, railway tracks, scrub-cutting and felling trees, anything to make money and put a roof over their heads and feed the family. Eeling was a good source of food for the Polish in those days. Collecting that fungus which grows on decaying wood and looks like human ears was a good little earner for the Polish, they used to sell it to Mr Chew Chong who would export it to China.

The FABICH name was Anglicized on arrival in New Zealand and is now FABISH, because most Polish people were illiterate their names were written down purely by the way they sounded to the person in charge at the time.

Simon owned a farm on York Rd Midhirst. He sold it in 1896 and purchased a farm on Stanley Road, Wharehuia. He died 9 month later at his Stanley Road home in 1897 of carcinoma of the kidney. He was ill for six months and was buried on 18 March 1897 at the old Midhirst Cemetery. Mary (Marianna) died 27 June 1910 at Stratford of Chronic Bronchitis Pneumonia Syncope (syncope means fainting, loss of consciousness from falling blood pressure) and is buried with Simon at the Old Midhirst Cemetery.

Simon FABICH was one of the Polish descendants who purchased twenty of the first 23 properties on York Road. According to information written at time of the FABISH reunion in 1997 Simon's wife was Mary SCHAFTA b. 1838 d. 1910 or Mary SCHACHTA, finally according to Christine GRACE nee FABISH it is Marianna SZACHTA, although she has found it spelt 7 different ways. Accompanying them were their 3 children Johann (9), Franz (6) and Joseph aged (3). (It is this 3 year old Joseph who kept a diary and who married Agnes Dodunska that all the Joseph Silvan Butler/Mary Margaret Fabish family descends from). Young Joseph kept a diary from the age of about 14 years for 30 odd years.

On board the Fritz Reuter were also a second FABICH (FABISH) family Simon's Brother Joseph FABICH age 38 & his wife Anna nee SULEWSKI age 32 & their four daughters, Franciszka 14, Lucia 12, Johanna 9, & Barbara 1/4 month.

Simon and Joseph FABICH also had a sister on board the Fritz Reuter her name was Anna Mary JAKUBOWSKI nee FABICH aged 41 and she was married to Johan (Jakub) JAKUBOWSKI aged 43, with their children Rosalia 13, Maria 9, Franciszka 8, & Waleria 1'/4 years. Also aboard was Marianna nee FABICH their niece with her husband and 2 young sons.