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Court Dress

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See thumbnails further down the page

Background:

Being presented to the British monarch was one of the foremost life-cycle rituals in British Society — marking a girl’s transition to womanhood. From now on she was allowed to participate in a “Season” of parties, balls, races and dinners which in essence constituted a marriage market populated by people with the right pedigree.

By 1898, the time of the images shown at the start of this exhibition, high Victorian ornamentalism was in its last throes. The Victorian psyche fetishized women to the point where delicate, demure women were considered an ideal of beauty and the strictly regulated Court dress of this era emphasized these elements. The Court dress was so structured that the body had little freedom of movement, with the waist cinched in almost brutally in order to create the wasp-like shape.

An aspiring debutante would have to start planning for her presentation at Court months in advance. She would have to find a lady who had already been presented to the sovereign and hence entitled to present her. She then had to choose an appropriately gorgeous yet modest white dress, and take etiquette and deportment lessons. Finally she had to learn how to make the requisite curtsey to the monarch and then throw her train over her arm so that she could walk backwards out of the Throne Room without turning her back to anyone.

Married ladies, or those who had undergone a change of status (from plain Mrs to Lady, for example) could also be presented at Court and were allowed to wear other than white for their gowns. They could also wear black in periods of Royal mourning.

The regulations of the Court directed that all ladies to be presented must appear in full Court dress – that is to say, with low bodice, short sleeves, train of a stipulated minimum length, short veil and/or lace lappets and long white gloves. The head-dress consisted of three ostrich feathers arranged in the so-called Prince of Wales plume: a centre feather higher than the two on each side worn slightly on the left of the head. Fans and bouquets were optional.

Although all the girls came from a privileged or recently-wealthy background, Queen Victoria (d. 1901) kissed and embraced personally only the daughters of aristocracy, with others being allowed to kiss her hand. The kissing was abandoned by King Edward VII (r. 1901-1910), who also moved his Courts to late evenings, made the hundreds of presentations speedier, and offered some refreshments to the participants.

The male equivalent of the Court at Buckingham Palace was the men-only Levee held by the King or the Prince of Wales at nearby St. James’s Palace. Those to be presented were either members of the diplomatic corps or men who had achieved a change in social status or military rank.

The men also had to adhere to strict regulations regarding their garments or uniforms. In addition, Court costumes were meticulously specified for the various dignitaries of the royal household.

After either event, the young ladies and the honoured gentlemen would usually make their way to one of the nearby fashionable photographic studios for a commemorative portrait. The Lafayette studio in New Bond Street, a few minutes away from the palace, was particularly popular.

With some small changes and a relaxation in the dress code, the ritual of presentations at Court continued, with a break for the two world wars, until it had become an uncomfortable anachronism and was abolished in 1958 by Queen Elizabeth II.

What becomes clear from an examination of the life of the young debutantes seen in this exhibition is that, by the time they reached marriageable age, they had achieved nothing, or very little. It is also clear that in most cases their future lives were spent as beautiful and hopefully charming appendages of their husbands. Not all of them found a suitable partner during their first Season; some spent the rest of their lives in spinsterhood or endured unhappiness in loveless or acrimonious matrimonial arrangements. And yet, hundreds of them turned up every year at Buckingham Palace as though strongly believing that the smile of the Sovereign, as it was said, would “transform the little homely grub into a gay butterfly”.

Half a yard — half a yard —
Half a yard onward,
through the first crush-room
Pressed the Four Hundred.

Forward — the Fair Brigade!
On to the Throne, they said:
On to the Presence Room
Crushed the Four Hundred.

“The Charge of the Court Brigade”,
Punch, 30 May 1874

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A selection of these images appear in an eexhibition held at the Pszczyna Castle Museum, Poland, 2020; and at the Muzeum Podlaskie w Bialymstoku, 2023.

 

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Lady Belhaven 1897
Duke of Sotomayor 1897
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Hon Mrs Balfour 1897
     
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Duchess of Bedford 1898
Lady Belhaven 1898
Jemima Blackwood (later Lady Laveson) 1898
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Jemima Blackwood (later Lady Laveson) 1898
Lady Clarke 1898
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Baroness de Geer 1898
Marchioness of Ely 1898
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Baroness von Haugwitz 1898
Lady Howard de Walden (later Lady Ludlow) 1898
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Mrs Irwin 1898
Colonel Thomas Angelo Irwin 1898
Hon Mrs RJ Kennedy 1898
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Baroness Linden
Lady MacDonnell 1898
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Lady Clementine Waring 1898
Lady Waring 1898
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Miss Waterlow 1898
     
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Countess di Carrobio 1899
Sir William Dunn 1899
Mrs Joseph Thomas Firbank 1899
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Lady Osborne 1899
Lady Rundle 1899
Sir Leslie Rundle 1899
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Lady Sidgreaves 1899
Madame Vagliano [unidentified] 1899
 
     
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Maharani of Cooch Behar 1900
Countess of Carnarvon 1900
Lady Darell 1900
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Hon Mrs Devereux 1900
Lady Doxford 1900
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Lady Gordon 1900
Baron Graevenitz 1900
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Baroness Graevenitz 1900
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Lady Meiklejohn 1900
Duchess of Somerset 1900
Lady Trelawny 1900
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Lady White 1900
     
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General Sir Robert Biddulph 1901
Sir Edward Bradford 1901
Sir Charles Bruce 1901
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Lady Bruce 1901
Lord Clinton 1901
Lord Leith 1901
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Rt. Hon. Sir Herbert Eustace Maxwell 1901
Sir James Reid 1901
     
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Lady Bennett 1902
Baroness Boxall 1902
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Maharani of Cooch Behar 1902
Monsieur Paul Cambon 1902
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Lady Cooper 1902
Miss Cooper 1902
Lady Hart 1902
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Baroness Hayashi 1902
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Louis Joseph Janvier (Haiti) 1902
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Lady Munro 1902
Grand Duke Michael of Russia & Countess de Torby 1902
Countess de Torby 1902
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Baroness de Stoeckl 1902
Countess of Tankerville 1902
     
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Lady Brooke-Hitching 1903
Sir Thomas and Lady Brooke-Hitching 1903
Sir Catchick Paul Chater 1903
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Lady Decies 1903
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Sir G Chubb 1903
Hon Mrs Henry Yarde-Buller 1903
 
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Lady Fiennes 1903
Lady Fiennes 1903
Lady Fowler 1903
     
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Lady Bass 1904
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Sir John and Lady Craggs and daughter 1904
Lady Craggs and daughter 1904 
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Miss Mona House 1904
 
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Lady Letchworth 1904
Hon Mrs Lawson Johnston and daughters 1904
Hon Mrs Lawson Johnston and daughters 1904
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Lady Smiley 1904
     
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Lady Munro 1905
Sir Clifton Robinson 1905
     
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Lady Aberdour 1906
Lady Cable 1906
Lady Crofton 1906
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Sir Morgan George Crofton Bt and Lady Crofton 1906
Sir Andrew Henderson Leith Fraser 1906
Sir FWR Fryer 1906
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Baron de Ros
     
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Mrs Jack Barnato Joel 1907
Miss Beryl Kearly 1907
Lady Shelford 1907
     
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Lady Colman 1908
Colonel Sir Alan Colquhoun 1908
Lady Deramore 1908
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Lord and Lady Deramore 1908
Mrs Le Strange (later Marchioness Townshend) 1908
     
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Sir Francis Bridgeman 1909
Sir Russell Cotes 1909
Sir Garrett O'Moore Creagh VC 1909
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B Mullen 1909
     
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Lady Brocklehurst 1910
Sir John Prichard-Jones 1910
     
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Hon Mrs Adderley 1911
Miss Violet Belfield 1911
Mrs Bowser 1911
     
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Hon Mrs Alexander Maclean 1911
Hon Colin Campbell 1911
August Langham Christie 1911
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Countess Clancarty 1911
Mrs Clifford Lefton 1911
Mrs Culme-Seymour 1911
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Lord Murray of Elibank 1911
Lady Malcolm 1911
Mrs Richard McBridge 1911
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Mrs Alexander MacCormick 1911
Judge Marris 1911
 
Sir Walter and Lady Menzies 1911
Madame de Raybaud 1911
 
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Lady Smiley 1911
Lady Stavridi 1911
Miss Violet Strange 1911
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Marchioness of Townshend 1911
Miss Sarita Ward 1911
Mrs Herbert Ward 1911
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Mrs Philip Wilmot 1911
Mrs RP Wodehouse 1911
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Miss Angerstein 1912
Miss Naomi Bentinck 1912
Countess Bentinck 1912
     
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Captain Adrian Vincent Bethell 1912
Canadian Ministers Group 1912
Lord Cornwallis 1912
     
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Miss De Bittencourt (later Countess of Lisburne) 1912
Viscountess Downe, later Mrs AM Bury 1912
Lieutenant-Colonel Keith David Erskine 1912
     
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Frederick Edward Guest 1912
AD Gurd 1912
Mrs Charles Graeme Higgins 1912
     
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Brigadier-General and Mrs Reginald Francis Legge 1912
   
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Lady Ella Harmwood-Banner 1913
Lady Roberts 1913
Sir Arthur Lewis Webb 1913
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Miss Angerstein 1914
Major Brian Bibby 1914
Major Henry Campbell Chads and sons 1914
     
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Lady Constance Gore 1914
Mrs Hugh Palliser Hickman 1914
Sir Bryan and Lady Leighton
     
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Lady Marks 1914
Countess Sondes 1914
Lady Stafford 1914
     
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Sir Albert Henry Stanley, later Lord Ashfield 1914
Sir Samuel Turner 1914
Sir Henry Webb 1914
     
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Lady Webb 1914
Lady Winfrey
 
     
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Lady Athlumney 1920
Madame Ballivian 1920
Commander F Branco 1920
     
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Lord Illingworth 1920
Sir Lauchlan Charles MacKinnon 1920
Mrs THR Plumer, later Viscountess Plumer 1920
     
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Mrs Charles Leslie Rome 1920
Viscountess Sidmouth 1920
Mamerto Urriolagoitia, later President of Bolivia 1920
     
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Mrs Evelyn Twysden Wickham 1920
 
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Lord Illingworth 1921
Sir Harry Renwick 1921
 
     
 
Madame Vi Kyuin Wellington Koo 1921
 
     
 
Wellington Koo 1921
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Sir George Buchanan 1922
Mrs Ogden Hammond 1922
     
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Lady Illingworth 1922
Lord Illingworth 1922
 
     
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Mrs George Knowles 1922
Princess Shimadzu 1922
     
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Sir Edward Cecil and Lady Moore 1922
Lady Moore 1922
Lady White-Smith 1922
     
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Mr & Mrs Hugh Myddleton Buter 1923
Lady Hansen 1923
Mrs William Hutchinson 1923
     
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Miss Kathleen Keswick 1923
Claud Cecil Augustus Kirke 1923
 
     
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Claud Cecil Augustus Kirke 1923
 
     
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Lady Arbuthnot Lane 1923
     
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Miss Mary Latta, later Comtesse d'Antraigues 1923
     
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Lady Latta 1923
     
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Mrs Bertram Wellington Parker 1923
Lady Renwick 1923
Ella Renwick, later Mrs Leslie Wilson Barnett 1923
     
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Captain Walter William Shaw 1923
Mrs Walter William Shaw 1923
Miss Gwendolen Shaw 1923
     
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Rt Hon Sir William Turner 1923
Lady Waring 1923
Waring [1923]
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Lady Beauchamp 1924
 
 
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Mrs Walter Bridge 1924
Miss Morton Bell 1924
 
 
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Lady Calvert 1924
Sir Joseph Calvert 1924
Lt-Col and Mrs Kenneth Campbell 1924
 
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Mrs Aubrey Cole 1924
Mrs Eardley-Wilmot 1924
Miss Eardley-Wilmot later Lady Shakerley 1924
 
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Colonel Ivan Douglas Gutherie 1924
Mrs Ashley Hall (née Beauchamp) 1924
 
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Lord Harmsworth and family 1924
 
     
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Lady Jackson 1924
Mrs Frank Billings Kellogg 1924
 
     
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Mrs Lawson Johnston 1924
Mr & Mrs Lawson Johnston 1924
Mrs H Gore Lloyd and Miss Mary Langley Morrison 1924
     
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Mr & Mrs Guy Loveband 1924
Mrs Charles McCrea 1924
 
     
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Miss Mabel Mitchell 1924
Mrs and Mrs Percy Mitchell 1924
Lady Newton 1924
     
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Lady Read 1924
 
     
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Lady Read 1924
Lady Tata 1924
     
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Mrs John Wheeler Wheeler-Bennett and Mrs WC Punchard 1924
Mrs Charles Wynne-Jones 1924
 
 
     
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Lady Ackroyd 1925
   
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Lady Bower 1925
Sir Alfred, Lady and Miss Bower 1925
     
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Miss Betty Bower 1925
Dr. William Caithness 1925
Mrs FC Clarkson 1925
     
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Lady Cory 1925
Dr Vincente Cuervo-Marquez 1925
Captain Geoffrey Frederick Robert Hirst 1925
     
Colonel George Richard Lane-Fox (later Lord Bingley) 1925
General Rt Hon Sir John Grenfell Maxwell 1925
Captain Eion James Henry Merry 1925
     
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Mrs TC Owen 1925
 
 
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Mrs and Miss Perkins 1925
     
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Sir William Robert and Lady Pryke 1925
Sir William Robert and Lady Pryke 1925
 
     
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Miss Rideal 1925
Captain and Mrs William Crockett Thorne 1925
Lady Evelyn Vestey, née Brodstone 1925
 
Lady Bedford 1926
James Vincent Coyle 1926  
     
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Mrs Gordon-Brown 1926
Lady Hall 1926
 
     
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Lady Inchiquin 1926
Lady Irwin 1926
Miss Julia De Little 1926
     
 
Iichi Kishi 1926
 
     
 
Iichi and Madame Kishi  1926
 
     
Madame Kishi  1926
     
Madame Kishi 1926
Madame Tatakimi Mitsui  1926
     
Madame Tatakimi Mitsui  1926
     
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Madame Tatakimi Mitsui 1926
Mr & Mrs Herbert Parkes 1926
Hon Sir Archdale Parkhill 1926
     
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Captain and Mrs John Noel Pelly 1926
Lady Sleigh 1926
Lady and Miss Sleigh 1926
     
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Evelyn HP Slessor 1926
Nesta Villers-Stuart 1926
Lady Waterlow 1926
     
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Sir William Alfred Waterlow 1926
Mrs and Miss Woodcock 1926
Miss Isla Woodcock 1926
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Sir Charles Albert Batho 1927
Lady Batho and maids of honour 1927
Lord and Lady Batho and sheriffs 1927
     
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Lady Blades 1927 Lady Blades and daughters 1927  
     
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Lady Blunt 1927
Miss Eileen Gregory 1927
 
     
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Miss Florence Vestey Jones 1927
GF Luttrell 1927
Mrs Joseph Pike, Mrs HWL Waller, Mrs F Leonard Bishop 1927
     
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Miss Rosario Scrope 1927
Miss Kathleen Vestey 1927
Miss Alice Vestey 1927
     
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Mrs Frederick S Whalley 1927
   
Miss Elaine Bishop 1928
     
Mrs Douglas and Miss Margery Cooke 1928
     
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Madame and Admiral Costa Pelle 1928
     
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Lady Dalrymple 1928
     
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Miss Maryant Fielding-Hall 1928
Lady Green 1928
     
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Mrs Nevitt 1928
Miss Anne Washington Perine 1928
 
     
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Monsieur Elis Radonicich 1928
Mrs Christopher C Tollit 1928
 
     
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Mrs Russell Webster 1928
 
 
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Mrs John North Willys 1928
Miss Dulcie Wright 1928
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Mlle Regitze de Berner 1929
Lady Davis 1929
Lady Every and Mrs Vivian Horrocks Ward 1929
     
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Walter John Fryer 1929
Mrs MM Hughes 1929
Mrs Roderick Macklin 1929
     
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Miss Cecilia Mayo 1929
Mrs Rosslewin Westropp Morgan 1929
Richard Frederick Bryan O'Callaghan 1929
     
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Miss Cora Sluiter 1929
Miss Nancy Stewart 1929
 
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Nabuco de Araújo (Brazilian Minister) [ND]
Colonel Edward Holmes Baldock [ND]
Colonel Cradock [ND]
     
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Sir Clifford John Cory Bt [ND]
Erlhoven [?] [undated]
Colonel Sir Charles Bean Euan-Smith [nd]
     
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Signora Pansa
Sir Walter and Lady Palmer
 
     
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6th Earl Spencer [nd]
Thomas [nd]
Waring [1923]
     
     

This site has been compiled by Russell Harris rvondeh@gmail.com.

For any comments/corrections please email the compiler at rvondeh@gmail.com.