Amongst other roles, he addressed meetings of those who were interested in emigrating. When news that Godley had resigned his position as the agent for the Canterbury Association reached the management committee in London in October 1851, they looked for a successor. Sewell was their first choice, but he was in charge of sorting out the Association's financial affairs and saw a conflict of interest. Sewell suggest that William Fox be appointed instead. The management committee, at its meeting on 2 December 1851, appointed Captain Simeon as Godley's successor; at that point, Simeon had already reached New Zealand. The Simeon family with five children, a housekeeper, a governess, a lady's maid, a housemaide, a nurse, a cook and a footman left England from the East India Docks on 18 June 1851 on the ship "Canterbury" and arrived on 21 October in Lyttelton. Lyttelton inhabitants were amazed about the size of the party. The children and servants were put up at the Mitre in Lyttelton at a cost of £4 10s per day until he had found a town house to rent on the Bridle Path. He bought town section 102 in Lyttelton's Coleridge Street (today Coleridge Terrace), not far from the rented house, and built a substantial house with eight rooms near where the Bridle Path goes over the hill to Christchurch. This latter house is still standing and is registered as a Category II historic place by Heritage New Zealand. Within weeks of his arrival, Godley resigned as resident magistrate and the role was conferred to Simeon by the Governor of New Zealand, George Grey, with whom he met. In this role, he commissioned a lock-up in Christchurch, which was built by Isaac Luck in the Market Place. On behalf of the Canterbury Association, he brought 1,500 books to Canterbury, which were to be given to the colony's college. Simeon also took on the role of representative of the Canterbury Association from Godley. He resigned from that position in July 1853, when some functions of the Association were transferred to Guise Brittan as the region's land agent, and other functions to Henry Sewell, who had arrived from England. Late in December 1851, Simeon put his name forward to be elected onto the Council of the Society of Land Purchasers, but Guise Brittan, the Council's chairman, announced that the role was incompatible with that of a Resident Magistrate, and Simeon therefore withdrew his name.