SIR CECIL DAY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22457, 29 June 1936, Page 10

SIR CECIL DAY

DECISION TO RESIGN

ILL-HEALTH OF WIFE

SECRETARY FOR 26 YEARS

Sir Cecil Day, officinl secretary to the Governor-General of New Zealand for 26 years, has tendered his resignation to the Government as the continued ill-health of Lady Day prevents their return from England. Receipt of Sir Cecil's resignation was acknowledged yesterday by the Prime Minister, Mr. Savage, but he advised the Herald's Parliamentary reporter tliat it had not yet been accepted by the Government. The matter was being investigated by the Cabinet in an effort to ascertain whether Sir Cecil's services jir-ould not be utilised by the Government in London. The Government fully appreciated the assistance Sir Cecil Day had given to tlie State over many years.

Sir Cecil and Lady Day left for England in May last year on leave of absence, but shortly after their arrival Lady Day developed an illness which necessitated the cancelling of all their holiday plans. Since then Lady Day has spent practically all her time in the bracing air of the Cotswolds. The Herald's London correspondent says that early in March Sir Cecil was advised by doctors that it would be risky for Lady Day to attempt the voyage back to New Zealand.

"With his resignation went the frustration of their cherished hopes, for they are both deeply attached to the Dominion after having spent the best part of their lives in what Sir Cecil describes as 'that earthly paradise,' " the correspondent adds. On Lord Islington's appointment as Governor of New Zealand in 1910 Sir Cecil, who had assisted in the control of his estates since 1906, accompanied him to the Dominion, occupying the post of assistant private secretary on His Excellency's personal staff. Sir Cecil successively filled the position of official secretary to the Earl of Liverpool, Viscount Jellicoe, Sir Charles Fergusson and Lord Bledisloe, but he was out of New Zealand on leave when Lord Galway arrived. Sir Cecil was awarded the C.B.E. in 1919 and the C.M.G. in 1925, and was knighted in June, 1932. Lady Day was formerly Miss Catherine Fisher, youngest daughter of the late Mr. William Fisher, of Gloucester.