Former Lord Mayor Of London In Christchurch

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28532, 11 March 1958, Page 9

Former Lord Mayor Of London In Christchurch

♦ Sir Cullum Welch, who last year » was Lord Mayor of London, and ■ is on a business visit to Christi church is the veteran of many a ♦ banquet, but as he recalls the ' meals he had as the guest of * others and those at which he * entertained guests at the Mansion « House—up to 300 at a timehe J feels that he probably came out •* at a loss. “But it is worth it,” * said Sir Cullum Welch in an in- • terview. “It is a tremendous '• honour to be elected Lord Mayor.” « As the 629th Lord Mayor, Sir J Cullum Welch believes that one / of the most memorable functions J during his term of office was the J banquet at which the Duke of ♦ Edinburgh was welcomed home I from his four-month tour of the ♦ Commonwealth in February, 1957, » by the City of London. Another • occasion on which Sir Cullum J Welch looks back with satisfaction • was the first big task he undertook * in office. That was to launch • and lead an appeal for funds to * assist Hungarians and Hungarian • refugees in the November revolt ‘ of 1956. He announced the pro- * posal at the end of his speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet the day » after he was installed in office. • The appeal raised £2,600,000. • “It is a very full job,” said Sir J Cullum Welch, who has now • returned to his firm of solicitors. • In his year as Lord Mayor he had « moi'e than 1000 official engage- ‘ ments. • His tour through New Zealand * with Lady Welch, is as a director • of C. C. Wakefield and Company, * Ltd. He is on a three months' • world trip meeting the executives

and staff of the branches of that firm He has already been in Australia and will end the trip on April 2 after calling at the New York and Toronto offices of the company.

Both Sir Cullum Welch and Lady Weich are delighted with New Zealand. Sir Cullum Welch who visited here with Sir Denys Lowson, a former Lord Mayor of London, in 1951, said that he felt at home in New Zealand especially the South Island. Were he to tear up his roots in England he would choose either New Zealand or British Columbia as his new home, he said. On Saturday afternoon however, after the temperature had been 83deg, and after a sweltering Australian tour, both felt Christchurch was rather not. The Lord Mayor’s office was something unlike any other mayoralty, said Sir Cullum Welch. It was non-political and the Lord Mayor was also an unofficial ambassador. In his own term he visited Italy, the United States, Canada, and Finland, he said. In Finland he had opened the British Industrial Trade Fair at Helsinki, and in addition to his colourful retinue he took two coaches and a squad of London policemen and held a miniature Lord Mayor’s Show.