Pacific Cruise by Duke and Duchess

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 161, 11 July 1939, Page 2

Pacific Cruise by Duke and Duchess

VISIT TO AUCKLAND LONDON, June ID. Two interesting visitors to Auckland In December will be the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland. In the course of a Pacific cruise in their 820-ton yacht, Sans Peur, they expect to sight New Zealand a few days before Christmae. They will make a short stay in Auckland before continuing to the Bay of Islands, which they will make their headquarters for deep sea fishing before leaving toward the middle of February. Yachting is the favourite pastime of the Duke and Duchess. They will leave England about the middle of July for Vancouver, where they will board the Sans Peur. They plan to visit Samoa and Barotonga before reaching New Zealand. The Sans Peur has been in Vancouver for some weeks after undergoing a thorough overhaul, following its accident last February, when it struck a submerged rock off Santa Island, 480 miles south of Sau Diego. The Duchess of Sutherland was injured slightly, but the Duko and other guests were not harmed. Had the Duchess not been petting a jaguar she had picked up in Nicaragua for presentation to the London Zoo, she would also have escaped injury. But the cub was frightened by the shock, and scratched her severely before it could be secured and tied np. Duke's Many Activities The Duke, who has a fine public record, is also noted for his feudal castle at Dunrobin, Sutherlandshire, North Scotland, and for the fact that he is one of the few owners of a private railway engine and saloon in Britain. This is on his own estate, which covers several thousand acres, and is popular for deer stalking and grouse shooting. The Duke is 51. He is a commander in the Boyal Naval Beserve, and commanded the Motor Boat Flotillas in Egypt and the Adriatic during the Great War. After the war he represented the Colonies in the House of Lords, and was Parliamentary Undersecretary for Air in 1922-23. From 1925 to 1928 he was PaymasterGeneral, and from 1928-29 Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for War. He has been President of the Air League of the British Empire since 1922, and he is chairman of tho Boyal Aero Club, Vice-President of St. Dunstan’a Institute, and President of the Sutherland Territorial Army Associa tion. Duchess as Big Game Hunter The Duchess, who was formerly Lady Eileen Butler, eldest daughter Ox the Karl of L&nesborough, is a good shot. With her husband she has been on many big game expeditions, and they have made a museum for their collection at Dunrobin. It contains a very fine greater kudu, and a splendid Indian buffalo from Assam, both shot by the Duchess.

The Duchess is a handsome woman of much charm. She dresses beautifully and possesses some exquisite jewels. The Duke and Duchess have been on yachting cruises together in many parts of the world, and the present Sans Peur is the second vessel to which they have given the name. The first they bought from Lord Tredegar for about £50,000; several years later they sold

it to the Government of Irak as a cable ship. Craft Fitted with Diesel Engines

The Sans Peur in which they will travel to New Zealand was built in 1933 by John Thornycroft and Company, Limited, at Southampton, for Mr E. Gerald Stanley, a Paris surgeon, who named her the Trenora. She is fitted with Diesel engines and her speed is 16 knots.

The Duko bought her from Mr Stanley last year. She carries a crew of 35, mostly men from Southampton, and her commander is Captain E. Thomas, a well-know'n yachting captain, who was formerly skipper of the late Sir Thomas Lipton’s yacht, Erin.