PEOPLE IN THE PUBLIC EYE Tames (Hamilton), second Duke of Abercorn, who succumbed to influenza

at 61, Green Street, Grosvenor Square, on January 3, was the holder of two marquisates, two viscounties, an earldom, nine baronies and a baronetcy, and with the exception of his brother-in-law, Lord Lansdowne, and Lord Verulam, was the only member of the nobility who enjoyed distinct peerages in the three kingdoms. His Grace was a kind of epitome of the peerage, for his honours not only represented an accumulation of families, but his own sisters had allied themselves with some of the greatest houses — Buccleuch, Marlborough, Lansdowne, Durham, Lichfield, Mount Edgcumbe and Winterton.
He was head of the bouse of Hamilton,
and refused to recognise the decision of Napoleon III, who endeavoured to vest in the Duke of Hamilton (representing the head of the female line of Hamilton) the French Dukedom of
What would the late Duke, who had a horror of “ Socialism, ” have said
to the appointment of Sir Sydney Olivier to the permanent Secretaryship of the Board of Agriculture. Sir Sydney, who entered the Colonial Office thirty-one years ago, was one of the founders of the Fabian Society.
The centenary of Isaac Pitman has passed off quietly. There was a good
deal of the philosophy of Samuel Smiles about the inventor of
phonography, and Samuel Smiles is not the hero he was,
for our ideals of life have happily changed; nor is
verbatim reporting the power it once was in the daily newspapers. The modern newspaper
reader wants speeches not written, but
expressed, as it were, in shorthand.
So true is this that contractions
are creeping into print. Look at the present moment at the
“ B. M. A., ” which not one man
A CLERGYMAN PLAYWRIGHT
Canon J. O. Hannay and Mr. Hawtrey, who has produced his play at the Apollo.
Lambert and Lambert
SIR ISAAC PITMAN
The inventor of phonography, the centenary of whose birth was celebrated on January 4.
Hoppe
SIR SYDNEY OLIVIER
The Fabian pioneer, who has been appointed Permanent Secretary of the Board of Agriculture.
MRS. ASQUITH
and her son Anthony, photographed at Interlaker
on their way to Mürren.
Speaight THE DUCHESS OF ABERCORN
Chatelherault, which was created
in 1548. A vivid illustration of the
family connections was afforded by
the gathering at Whitehall House when
his mother (who was a niece of the famous
Duchess of Richmond, the hostess of the Waterloo Ball, and who died at the age of ninety - three) was photographed surrounded by her descendants, literally by the score.
The Duke was not so well known as his
brother, Lord George Hamilton, but he
was a strong opponent of Home Rule and a warm Imperialist, being President of the British South Africa Company. He was one of the founders of the Civilian Force, which came into existence last year as the result of the Labour Troubles. His son, who succeeds him, was born in 1869,
and the latter’s heir, hitherto known as Lord Paisley, is nine years old. The elevation of the marquis renders Londonderry, a very interesting constituency, vacant. The new Duchess is the only daughter of the Earl of Lucan.
THE LATE DUKE OF ABERCORN, K. G.
A portrait painted by Mr. P. Tennyson Cole for the British South Africa Company. Replica purchased by the Duchess of Abercorn.
Lafayette THE NEW DUKE OF ABERCORN
in a hundred thousand could have
translated into ‘ British Medical
Association” a year ago. Politics have
also given us “ B. M. G., ” which some
disputants now wish lengthened into
“ B. L. M. G. ” “ B. M. R. ” ( Balfour Must Return ”) is also suggested in some quarters.
Contracted words have also come to have a vogue among music-hall comedians—thus “ Pash ” for Passion, ” and “ Compunch ” “ Compunction. ” Even the Germans are subject to the craze, for,
as we have just been reminded, ‘‘ Deutsche Luftschiff Aktien Gesellschaft ” (German Airship Company), becomes “ Delag. ”
Canon Hannay, the author of “ General John Regan, ” produced at the
Apollo Theatre, is best known to novel-readers as “ George A. Birmingham. ” His play, “ Eleanor’s Enterprise, ” was done in Dublin two years ago. The most successful clergyman playwright has been the Rev. Freeman Wills, adapter of The Only Way, ” and the busiest was the Rev. John Home.