BOND OF UNION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26776, 20 May 1948, Page 4

BOND OF UNION

OTAGO CENTENNIAL

HISTORIC DINNER IN EDINBURGH

The celebrations which characterised March 23 in Dunedin had their counterpart on the other side of the world when Otago's centenary was made the occasion of a Victoria League dinner in Edinburgh. A report of the function, which has been sent to the Daily Times, says:— “On the evening of March 23, Victoria League House, in Edinburgh, was the scene of a historic dinner to celebrate the centenary of Otago and the founding of Dunedin by a group of Scottish settlers. In proposing the toast of ‘ The City of Dunedin,’ the Right Hon. the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, who presided, said that it was a proud day for Dunedin and an equally proud day for Scottish men and women that they should be able to celebrate, with their own kinsfolk across the sea, the centenary of a New Zealand city which, by the will of her citizens, bore the ancient name of Edinburgh. The toast was replied to by Mr John Roberts, the grandson of Charles H. Kettle, one of the early settlers who had been the first to survey and plan the city of Dunedin. “ Professor Sydney Smith, ViceChancellor of Edinburgh University, proposed the toast of ‘ The Bonds of Empire and the Victoria League,’ and other speakers included Professor A. C. Aitken (a graduate of Otago University), the Rev. Tulloch Yuille (one of our Executive Committee, and a former minister of the Knox Church in Dunedin), and our vice-president, the Countess of Minto. All arrangements. including the catering and cooking, decoration of the room, and waiting were carried out by members, including seven of the Young Contingent. “All through the evening one felt that not only the New Zealanders who were present, but every one of the 70 guests, were not a little moved by the realisation that on the very same day on the other side of the globe, similar celebrations were taking place Thoughts of affection and trust, and hope for the future were being interchanged across the seas between the Edinburgh of the Old Country and the Edinburgh of the new."