Historical information

A menu card for a dinner given to farewell Group Captain Thomas W White, D.F.C., V.D given by his friends on the occasion of his appointment as High Commissioner for Australia in the United Kingdom.
Although this dinner on 25 June 1951 was not an official Legacy function, many of the names such as S.H. Birrell, F.J. Doolan and J.G. Gillespie on the back page under the heading 'Hosts' are recognisable as Legatees. This may not have been an exhaustive list of attendees, as evidenced by the abbreviation E.& O.E. (errors and omissions excepted) following the list.
T W White was knighted during his term as High Commissioner, but died of a heart attack in 1957 only a year after he retired to South Yarra.
The food served at the dinner was typical of the times but the pudding (Bombe Nesselrode) is worthy of mention - it was a frozen pudding which was popular in the Victorian era, flavoured with chestnuts and maraschino, which is not often seen today. According to www.historicfood.com it was 'originally made by the French chef de cuisine Carême in 1814 for the diplomat Count Karl Von Nesselrode and became the most popular ice pudding of the nineteenth century, particularly appreciated by the English upper classes.'
The menu card may have been collected by one of the Legatees that were present and added to the archive.

Significance

A record that Legatees held very significant positions in their lives outside of Legacy. Networking activities of early Legatees spread through all levels of society, and they were able to draw on some very well placed contacts during the course of their work for Legacy.

Physical description

Dark blue print on white card of a menu and order of proceedings for the farewell dinner of TW White - 2 copies