SIR JAMES AND LADY PARR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19867, 13 August 1926, Page 11

SIR JAMES AND LADY PARR

.OFFICIAL WELCOME. .another happy reunion. (Fbom Odb Own Correspondent.) LONDON, July 2. Invitations to 8092 people—the great majority of them New Zsalanders-were issued bv the High Commissioner and Lady Allen to the official reception of welcomearranged in honour of Sit James and Lady Pair. This pleasant function took place last evening at the Wharncliffe Rooms Grsat Central Hotel, and the actual attendance is estimated to have been eomethmg under 2000. As previously, -the reception was combnu with a dance, an arrangement that la attiac. tive to everyone, for the dancmg relieves the formality of a reception alone and is enjoyed by all the young people—while there are many also of an older generation who still delight in this form of enjoyment. For the space of nearly two hours, Sir James and Lady Allen and Sir Ja»es and Lady Parr shook hands with the who* came in a long unbroken line. The High Commissioner-elect was manifestly receiving the congratulations of numerous old friends, and Lady , Parr was very gracious, animated, and graceful. Lady Parrs courage is deserving of recognition too, for jn tne afternoon, Mies Betty Parr had undergone an operation for appendicitis, which made both parents very anxious However. probably not a dozen people in the room knew of this anxiety, and t° £®;tcb them as they went through a duty which is always tiring, however pleasant, no one would have guessed that there was a care on their minds. They had received “ telegram announcing that the operation bad been successful, and during the evening a telephone message came through from bourne that all was well with tte patiect Lady Allen wore gold lame and Lady Pair was in the palest grey georgette with cape wrap to match having a collar and border of uncurled ostrich to tons; her shoes wore ot soft green brocade. All the men wh possess orders and decorations wore them, and all the women and girls were very attractively dressed. The reception room and lounge were decorated with beautiful flowers while a string band played from a centra dais all the evening. The ballroom is a room of great capacity with excellent floor, adjacent to ths central lounge and this naturally was the magnet of the evenm ß . An excellent orchestra provided the music. New Zealand receptions in London are the happiest imaginable of functions and any High Commissioner who represents the Dominion has reason to be proud of his lar 0 family, whose extent is only realised on occasions such as the one last nignt. aij who attend always wish there were more of them. , , , Among tho first to arrive—and, unfortunately, quite the first to leave—were the Rail and Countess Jellicoe and Lady Gwendoline. They remained only for a brief hall-hour, having other engagements to fulfil. All busy people are always double and triple-banked at this stage of the London season. tor the same reason ths stay of the Secretary of State for the Dominions and Mrs Amery was brief. , . Thera are always a certain number ol people of official importance connected in some Way with the Dominion, or with organisations of Dominion interest, invited to these receptions, but they are not very many. Last evening tucy included—in addition to Mr and Mrs Amery—ths Prime Minister and Mrs Baldwin, Earl and Countess Clarendon, t«o Commissioner for Australia and Dame Mary Cook, the High Commissioner for India and Lady Chattergee, alll tha AgentsGeneral with their wives, Sir C. and Lady Kinnloch-Cooke, Sir H. and Lady Ellison, Sir H. d’Egvilie, Sir W. and Lady burse. Sir A. J. and Lady Godley, the Hon, W. G. A Orms’by-Gore and Lady B. Ormsby-Gore, Air- Vice-Marshal Sir Brancker, Sir W. and Lady Clark, Lord and Lady Ranfurly, Sir Lowther and Lady Grant, Lord and Lady Liverpool, Sir 0. Lucas, Sir R. and Lady Redmayne, Sir Frank and Lady Heath, Sir C. and Lady Davis, Admiral Sir W. and Lady Henderson, Sir G. Lagden, Mr and Mrs H C. Scrimgeour, the Countess of Jersey, ‘ Lady Frances Hyder, Sir A. and Lady Steel-Maitland, Major-general Sir Fabian and Lady “Wars, Mias G. Pott, Admiral A. G. Hothara, Miss G. Drayton, Viscountess Chelmsford. Commissoned D. O. Lamb and Mrs Lamb, and others. It is not possible to give the names of all the New Zealanders present, but some who were seen included Ur and Mrs E. Morris, ths Rev. M. Mullineux, Mrs E. M. Barker, Mr E. Darnley, Mrs Lawrence Dent, Captain and. Mrs Greenstreet, Mr and Mrs R. Herrics, the Hon. W. H. Triggs, Dr and Mrs W. E. Collins, Sir Thomas Mackenzie, Mrs A. V. M'Donald, Sir Harold Beauchamp and his daughter, Mr and Mrs C Holdsworth, Mr and Mrs B. Tripp, Major and Mrs Chaytor, Mr and Mrs Nosl Adams, Dr T A. Hunter, Colonel and Mrs Cowie Nichols, Sir Francis Bell and Mrs Eolleston Mr and Mrs Moss Davis and Miss B. Moss Davis, Mr and Mrs H. Horton, Sir J. Mills, Mr and Mrs A. Miclne, Mrs J. M‘N Christie Miss Joan Mnirella. The ‘‘New Zealand Colony” regarded the function also as a farewell to Sir James and Lady Allen, who have made many friends during their official residence in London. In diplomatic circles Sir James is held in the highest esteem, and he, with Lady Allen, have taken their share on every occasion when their Dominion has been eluded. j