Chairman of U.K. gin firm favours Sunday opening

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32562, 23 March 1971, Page 14

Chairman of U.K. gin firm favours Sunday opening

The chairman of directors of Gilbeys, Ltd, makers of Gilbeys gin, quotes the Bible in support of his contention that people should drink when they like. Discussing the licensing laws of New Zealand in Christchurch yesterday, Mr J. H- B. Gilbey said that Christ had made his attitude clear about drinking at the marriage feast of Cana where he miraculously turned water into wine.

Mr Gilbey said he saw little point in preventing drinking on Sundays by having laws forbidding the opening of hotels. “If one goes to church on Sundays why not have a few games and a few drinks as well,” he said. Mr Gilbey belongs to a prominent ’ English Roman

i Catholic family. His elder > brother, the Rev. P. H. G. , Gilbey, a Benedictine monk, holds the family title of 1 Baron Vaux of Harrowden : and is one of two Catholic priests with a seat in the ; House of Lords.

Mr Gilbey has come to New Zealand for the opening of a new gin distillery at Auckland which his company has built at a cost of more than $500,000. Gilbeys first opened a factory in New Zealand six years ago but the growth of business has exceeded output. Last year the firm sold 300,000 dozen quart bottles of gin in New Zealand. Mr Gilbey warned drinkers who drank too much to expect no - sympathy from his firm. “Anyone who drinks too much is a mug,” he said.