GOVERNMENT HOUSE BALL

Taranaki Daily News, 4 August 1934, Page 7 (Supplement)

GOVERNMENT HOUSE BALL

COLOURFUL SPECTACLE. DEBUTANTES PRESENTED. The big white ballroom at Government House, Wellington, was a blaze of lights on Thursday night, when their Excellencies the Governor-General and Lady Bledisloe gave a ball at which over 30 debutantes were presented. Crystal chandeliers glittered above a brilliant gathering, and the decorations, which were carried out with an artistic use of tall palms, hanging baskets of ferns and pot plants, banking up against the dais and massed together in the corners, accentuated the warm crimson and gold colourings of the curtains. In the conservatory chairs were placed about beneath the huge overhanging branches of tropical plants and the lovely pale pastel flowers of schizanthus and cyclamen, ghostly in the shaded light. The verandah was also arranged for sitting out, with pot plants, a warm carpet, radiators and comfortable chairs. The crimson-carpeted hall led to the billiard-room, the entrance hall and the beautiful dining-room, all three arranged with supper on long tables, decorated with spring bulbs, iris stylosa, mimosa and anemones, some in tall silver vases, others in flat bowls. The savouries and cakes were of every delicious variety, and all were -the work of the kitchen staff. The debutantes and those who presented them gathered in the dining-room at 8.30 p.m., while the oher guests assembled beyond the roped-off end of the ballroom. At 8.45 p.m. the band struck up the National Anthem, and their Excellencies entered and took their places on the dais, with Sir Cecil Day, Captain Tweedie and Lieutenant Elworth in attendance. Her Excellency wore an exquisite dress of powder blue georgette,, with cape sleeves, embroidered in an intricate design in shining blue sequins. Lord Bledisloe was in the uniform of a Privy Councillor.

One by one the debutantes were announced, made their curtseys, and received charming acknowledgements, as they were presented. The debutantes were: Misses Sheila and Barbara Coates, daughters of the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates and Mrs. Coates; Miss Barbara Bassett, daughter of Mr. S. K. Bassett, Timaru; Miss Mary Marsden, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Ernest Marsden; Miss Marjorie Tait, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A G Tait, Dannevirke; Miss Valerie Carr, daughter of Mr. J. W. Carr, J.P., and Mrs. Carr; Miss Gwynne Jones, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Jones; Miss Georgina Sterling, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Sterling; Miss Yvonne Rapley, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S. W. Rapley, Palmerston North; Miss Cara SinclairEvatt, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. T. Sin-clair-Evatt, Blenheim; Miss Joyce Whitehead, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Adam

Platt Whitehead, Stokes Valley; Miss Zoe Ward, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Sidney H. Ward, Whangarei; Miss Helen Widdop, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. C. Widdop; Miss Helen Johns, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Johns; Miss Joan Maudsley, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. Maudsley; Miss Elsie Stewart, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Stewart; Miss Monica Robertson, daughter of Professor and Mrs. P. W. Robertson; Miss Edith Gow, daughter of Dr. Maysie Gow; Miss Theresa von Keisenberg, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. A. von Keisenberg; Miss Marie Heinemann, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. M. M. Heinemann; Miss Irma Hyder, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Hyder; Miss Peggy Woodward, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G. F. Woodward; Miss Muriel Mills, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S. M. Mills; Misses Valerie and Pamela Riddiford, daughters of the late Mr. Frederick Earle Riddiford; Miss Elizabeth Russell, daughter of the late Lieutenant Neil R. Russell, Dannevirke; Miss Joan Miller, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. J. Miller; Miss Lois Goldsmith, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Goldsmith; Miss Thelma Jones, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank R. Jones; Miss Josephine Burdekin, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Burdekin; Miss Betty Waters, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. V. H. Waters; Misses Marie and Josie PowerCollins, presented by their mother, Mrs. A G. Fordham; Miss Margaret Gardiner, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Gardiner.