ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16895, 6 July 1918, Page 4 (Supplement)

ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

Tnr. King has approved of the appointment of Lady Joan Mulholland to be lady-in-waiting to Princess Mary. Lady Joan is a half-sister of the Karl of Strafford and niece of Sir Julian Byng. She was married in 1913 to Mr. Edward Mudholland/ eldest son of Lord Dunlcath, who was killed in action in 1914, leaving her with a daughter.

Lady Lovat, who is the wife of Major Lord Lovat, is Lord Ribblesdale's second daughter, and was married in 1910. She is an indefatigable war-worker. Lord Lovat used to be in tho Household Cavalry. He raised Lovat's Scouts in the South African war and got the D.S.O. and C.B. In the present war he sorvod as a brigadier-general. 1914-15, and became a Knight of the Thistle in 1915. His title is oiio of tho most, ancient in the kingdom.

The Marchioness of PufferVn and Ava is an American, and before her marriage in 1893 was Miss Florence Davis. She is the daughter of Mr. John H. Davis, of 24, Washington Square, New York. The present marquis will be perhaps better remembered both in England and in India, where his distinguished father was Viceroy, as Lord Terence Blackwood, and ha has' been for some years in tho Foreign Office. Lord Basil Blackwood, the second son, was killed in action in 1917, and was in the Grenadier Guards.

It is reported that the Duke of Sutherland has purchased Sutton Place, Guildford, the beautiful house occupied by Lord Northcliffe. The price is said to be £150,000. Sutton Place is ono of the oldest houses in Surrey, having been built in tho reign of Henrv VIII. It belongs to Mr. Witham, of Gray's Inn, the wellknown Roman Catholic lawyer, by whom it was leased to Lord Northcliffe. The duke has purchased both the freehold and leasehold interests, as he requires the property for residential purposes, having parted with Trentham, Staffordshire.

Lady Hardinge, who is an indefatigable war-worker, is the daughter of tho late Hon Ralph Nevill, who was a younger son 'of the fourth Ear! of Abergavenny, the marquisato only dating from 1876. Lord Hardinge is one of the best-known and most-popular men who has ever served in the Rifle Brigade, and is affectionately known by all who have been in it as '"'Punch." Ho at ono time commanded the Sixth Battalion, and is now O.C. the Rifle Brigade depot at Winchester. Lord and Lady Hardinge's eldest son, who was also in tho Rifle Brigade, was killed in action in 1915.

Lord Londonderry has had leave from his military duties while he served on the Irish Convention, but he is a true soldier, and his heart during these trying times is much with his comrades at the front. He has been mentioned in despatches, and has been with his regiment, the R.H.G., since war began. He had very little leave when his father died in 1915, and has had short leave once or twice since. The convention has kept him at home longer than he liked. . His only son, Viscount Castlereagh, in his sixteenth year, is a very precious person, as he is the only boy in the- direct line of succession.

Enumerating the number of titled people who are actively engaged in business pursuits, a few years ago the Marquis and Marchioness of Bute established a small factory for the production of tapestry and lace "at Corstorphine, near Edinburgh. Lord Londonderry sells coal, and Lady Wimborne was responsible for the "Church of Ens/land book store" in.Dover Street, while until a comparatively recent period Lady Algernon Gordon Lennox was connected with a jam-making and fruitbottling business. An enemy tradesman with a title is the Kaiser, who owns some considerable pottery works in East Prussia. \

The Hon. Alan Burns, Lord and Lady Inverclyde's only son, is engaged to Miss Esther Mildred Leon. He was wounded and came home recently, and in December next he will celebrate his coming of age. His uncle, the second Lord Inverclyde, had no family, and his father succeeded to the peerage in 1905, and is, of course, a magnate in the shipping line. Mr. Alan Bums has two sisters. Miss Leon Is the onlv daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Leon, of 1, Hens Place. Lord and Lady Inverclyde, although owners of Castle Wemyss, a large, rather new residence overlooking a picturesque stretch of the Clyde, reside principally at Hartfield Cove, Dumbartonshire.

The Prince of Wales had a most successful Clydebank tour. So really interested was His Royal Highness in all that he saw that he won at once the liking and respect of the workers. He tried his hand at several shipbuilding operations, and, while confessing that they were by no means as easy as they looked when done by practised hands, he did them all in a workmanliko and unembarrassed way. Princess Mary's interest in the work of the British Red Cross is widening. Her Royal Hiehness has done practical training, and taken_ certificates, and is now watching the working of larger matters with close and intelligent interest, which probably means that the young princess will take a lead ere long in this wonderful organisation.

Lord Gifford, whose engagement is announced to Miss Anne Maud Aitchison, is a widower with no children. His wife, who was the daughter of Mr. John Osborn, Q.C., and widow of Mr. Thoma3 Booth, of West Ashley Manor, Lincoln, died in August, 1913. Lord Gifford succeeded his brother in 1911. He has one brother, who is married and has a son. The late Lord Gifford was a V.C. hero, and his widow is an hon. serving sister of the Order of St. John. She. was attached to the army nursing service- in tho South African war, and she is in peacetimes a mistress of harriers, with which she lias shown first rate sport. Mips Aitchison is the, daughter of tho Into Colonel Aitchison, Scots Fusilier Guards, of Drummorc, Musselburgh. Scotland, and of Mrs. Aitchison. 1/ord Clifford's mother, a daughter of the first Lord Kitzhardinge. lives at Hampton Court Palace, and of his seven sisters four married distinguished soldiers. King Gustavo* of Sweden is of a most retiring disposition. He is said to be tho only monarch ever known to wear eyeglasses on State occasions. In point of fact, both eye-glasses and spectacles aro very tare among Royalties of to-day, This certainly is true of our own Royal Family, no living member of which (unless we include the Duke of Cumberland) employs any aid to vision. There was a time when Queen Victoria would not allow anyone wearing spectacles to appear before her at Court. King Oust-avus is the great-grand-son of Bernadotte, Napoleon's famous marshal, who, born the son of a Pan lawyer, ascended the Swedish throne in 1018, and was the only Napoleonic ki'ig who contrived to keep his crown. His Majesty is, therefore. French by descent, but marriage has brought him much German blood. The Queen of Sweden was a Princess of Baden, and her mother is a Prussian. The Crown Prioress is English, the daughter of the Duke of Connaught and first cousin of the King. King Gustavus has long been an ardent admirer of the Kai«er, to whose first cousin he is married. They both know how the Swedes regard loyalty. When King Gustavns' mother was going with her family in slow stages to Tmndhjc'ii to be crowned the country folk crowded round her at every stopping-place. "Art thou the mother of the laud? Art thou the mother of these tall boys?" they asked. They reviewed her critically. " Thou lonkest nice, but thou must do more than look nice, for that is not essential," they added, significantly,