PERSONAL NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 130, 4 June 1931, Page 11

PERSONAL NOTES

The Earl of Athlonc, Governor-Gon-eral of the Union of South Africa from 1923 to 1931, is a son of tho late Duke of Teck and tho late Princess Mary Adelaide- The Earl was educated at Eton and tho Boyal Military College, Sandhurst, and served in Matabele Land, in South Africa, and throughout the European War, being mentioned in dispatches in each campaign and winlring the D.S.O. Ho was a captain in the 7th Hussars and tho Life Guards and Boyal Horse Guards, and reached the rank of honorary major-general before ho retired. In 190-1 he married Princes? Alice of> Albany, and they have one daughter. Tho Earl is. 57 years of age. s

Sir Edward Elgar, a musician English of the English, received no regular musical training, and like too many of his countrymen had to wait for recognition outsido his own land. His "Dream of Gorontius" when produced at the Birmingham Festival of 1900 was not readily accepted, and it was not until tho performance- of it at the Lower Ehine Festival two years later that Bichard Strauss's generous tribute attracted universal attention to tho work and assured its position. Evcu so, Elgar had to wait years for full acceptance His "Apostles" baffled a country which was reared on Mendelssohn and Spohr, and it was really with the First Symphony, in 190S, that Elgar won his public. The symphony and its successor have always been extremely popular. The result of this work was to raise English music to a higher position in European prestige than it had occupied since -the death of Purcell. In one year after the war Elgar, _ now turning to chamber music, finished three' chamber works, besides his 'collo concerto. Since the death of his wife in 1920 ho has produced little. His Knighthood dates from 1904.

Sir Herbert Gibson, who received a K.B.E. in 1919, is a landowner and livestock breeder in the Argentine, where his family has owned property for over 100 yoars. Ho was Wheat Commissioner in the Royal Commission on Wheat Supplies in Argentine and Uruguay, vice-president of the Rural Society, and l'cpresontcdvArgentino at the International Commercial Congress in Philadelphia in 1899. Sir Herbert Gibson was Scottish born, and has written a number of books on agricultural subjects.

Sir Thomas Jaffrey, consulting aetujEj3s ©£ Aberdeen Sayings Bank, is also

Lord Hector's Assessor in the Aberdeen University Court. Ho is prominent in public affairs in that city, and_ has founded a chair at Aberdeen University for tho teaching of political economy.

Sir, William Bragg is tho Director of tho Royal Institution of Great Britain, and 45 years ago was professor of mathematics and physics at Adelaide University. There ho did his early work in research into radio-activity which brought him world fame. Ho has held professorial posts at Leeds and London Universities, and in 1913 received the Nobel Prize for physics and the Barnard G-old Medal from Columbia University. Both of these distinctions were shared with his son,. William Lawrence Bragg. Sir William |a main work has been research into various radio-active phenomena, and he possesses great powers of exposition. In 1920 he was made a K.B.E. The progress of Dame Sybil Thurndike and her husband, Mr.1 Lewis Casson, after the war has been one of the most striking features of the drama of our time. Passing from the "Old Vie." to melodrama at Drury Lane, and thence to experiments in Grand Guignol plays, Daina Sybil Thoriidiko becanio representative of tho best type of actor-manager, and was greatly aided by her husband's producing skill. Among her best work was tho playing of Hecuba and Medea in Gilbert Murray's version of those tragedies, and her Jane Clegg in St. John Brvine's play of that name. Her greatest popular success^ however, came in fcinaw's "Saint Joan." By means of this play Shaw found a wider public than ever. Last year Dame Sybil Tkorndike played in "Othello" at the Savoy.

Sir Benjamin Turner makes yet another Labour knight. He lias been a Socialist all through his life, and at the age of 10 was working from 6 a.m. until 12.30 p.m. for half a crown a week. At 21 he married on his savings of &i 7s 6d, and embarked on his public career; He became a Magistrate, Mayor of Batley, a county alderman, and a member of Parliament. He was the man who advised Bernard Shaw on the sources for the North ,Country dialect which Shaw gave to Saint Joan in his play of that name. A member of the old Social Democratic Federation in 1886, Sir Benjamin Turner has been in the 1.L.P.. ever since. He has taken part in every Trades Union Congress and Labour Party Conferenco since 1890, and has been chairman of both assemblies. In 1929-30 he'was Secretary for Mines, and at present is president of tho National Union of Tex-, tile Workers, for which he did much organising work many years ago. Sir William Jowitt, P. 0., originally one of the hopes of the Liberal- Party, resigned from that party and from his seat in the Commons two years ago to roeontest the Preston seat as a Labour candidate. He succeeded, and besides becoming Attorney-General, received a knighthood in the same year. He has been prominent at the Bar, and in 1922 he took silk. He was a member of the Lunacy Commission of 1924 and first entered the Commons nine years ago when he was elected Liberal member for The Hartlepools.

Sir William Llewellyn has been president of the Royal Academy since 1928, and is a trustee of many galleries. He has been a portrait painter, one of his works being the State portrait of Queen Mary. Sir Donald Kingdon has been Chief Justico of Nigeria since 1929, and after leaving Cambridge University had a long career in Uganda and on the Gold Coast. He has worked on revising the laws of Nigeria and the Gold Coast. General Sir Reginald Hart, Colonel Commandant of the Royal Engineers since 1922, has held many posts in a long and varied career. He was Com-mander-in-Chief in South Africa in 1912-14, and Lieutenant-Governor of Guernsey in 1914-18, Viec-Admiral Vernon- Haggard is Commander-in-Chief on the America and West Indies Station, and has been Chief of the Submarine Service and Fourth Sea Lord. Vice-Admiral William Boyle is president of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, and Vice-Admiral Commanding the Royal Naval War College. Lieutenant-General Felix Ready commands tho Royal.Berkshire Regiment since 1930. Lieutenant-General Sir Walter Leslie has commanded the La-' horo district since 1928.

Air Vice-Marshal Charles Lambe has commanded the Coastal Area since 192"8. J