1. The reorganisation of the Colonial Office to include a new department for Dominion affairs was officially announced.

Mr. E. Guy Dawber became President of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

-The Railway Centenary Exhibition was opened at Faverdale, near Darlington.

2. Lord Cave was elected Chancellor of the University of Oxford by 987 votes against 441 votes cast for Lord Oxford and Asquith.

6. The Times announced that Mr. Thomas Robinson Ferens, of Hull, had made a gift of 20,000l. to the Medical School of the Middlesex Hospital for the foundation of an Institute of Otology (see also under February 3).

7. Dr. Thomas B. Strong, Bishop of Ripon, was appointed to the Bishopric of Oxford.

9. The first sections of the residential quarters of the University of Paris were opened.

The National Trust took over the waterfalls of Rhaiadrdu in the Gonllwyd Valley, near Barmouth, which were presented to the nation by Mr. Blair, of Dolgelly.

13. King George V., who was accompanied by Queen Mary, opened the new house of the British Medical Association in Tavistock Square.

15. At the by-election in the Forest of Dean division, Mr. A. A. Purcell retained the seat for the Labour Party by an increased majority.

18. By a vote in the House of Commons, summer time was made a permanent institution, to last five and a half months each year, beginning on the third Saturday in April, and ending on the first Saturday in October. King George V., accompanied by Queen Mary, opened Ken Wood for public use (see ANNUAL REGISTER, 1924, Chronology, under November 18).

20. At Edinburgh there was opened the first biennial conference of the World Federation of Education Associations.

It was announced that a well-known lay member of the Wesleyan Methodist Church had given 100,000l. in order to provide an addition of 5,000l. a year to the income of the Worn-out Ministers Fund. Though the gift was made anonymously, it was believed that Mr. Joseph Rank was the benefactor.

21. The Times announced that a woman had been appointed Burgomaster of Waillet, a Commune in the neighbourhood of Dinant. It was stated that this was the first time that a woman had received such an appointment in Belgium.

22. Severe thunderstorms, accompanied by heavy rain, burst over London after a hot and sultry day, the thermometer registering 88 degrees in the shade.

23. In his will the Marquis Curzon of Kedleston bequeathed to the nation Tattershall Castle in Lincolnshire and Bodiam Castle in Sussex.

Sir Daniel Stevenson, who was Lord Provost of Glasgow from 1911 to 1914, presented 10,000l. to the University of London for the establishment of a Chair of International History.

AUGUST.

3. The visitors to the Wembley Exhibition on Bank Holiday numbered 193,111, compared with 166,181 on the August Bank Holiday of 1924.

4. The ninth International Prison Congress was opened at the Imperial Institute.

5. Lt.-Col. Bernard Freyberg, V.C., D.S.O., attempted to swim the Channel, and came within 500 yards of success. The swim lasted 16 hours 44 minutes.

10. A storm of great violence swept over the eastern portion of Holland, causing enormous damage and wiping out the little town of Borculo, near Zutphen.

14. The contract for the sale of the Foundling Hospital and land in the vicinity for 1,650,000l. was signed. It was understood that the Governors would give possession within two years.

19. The Ecumenical Church Conference, which was attended by over 500 delegates, was opened by the King of Sweden in Stockholm.

28. The 300th anniversary of the publication of Hugo Grotius's "De Jure Belli et Pacis " was celebrated at Delft.

SEPTEMBER.

1. An international exhibition of professional photography to mark the centenary of the art was opened at the Princes Galleries in London.

4. The Times reported that Miss Pattie Field had been appointed U.S. consul at Amsterdam. She was said to be the first American woman consul.

13. The largest carillon in the world, composed of fifty-three bells, and presented by Mr. J. D. Rockefeller, Jr., in memory of his mother, to Park Avenue Baptist Church, New York, was played for the first time. All the bells were manufactured in England.

14. The Times reported that an expedition sent out from Tiflis by the Georgian Geographical Society had successfully ascended Mount Elbruz. Five women took part in the ascent.

17. At the Stockport by-election, Mr. A. E. Townend captured the seat for Labour from the Conservatives by a majority of 2,327.

26. Dr. E. A. Burroughs, the Dean of Bristol, was appointed to the Bishopric of Ripon.

28. The 4-lb. loaf was reduced in price from 10d. to 9 d. in London.

The number of persons recorded as unemployed on the registers of the Employment Exchanges of Great Britain was 1,336,100, being 136,784 more than a year ago.

29. In the result of the examination for the Higher Civil Service, the names of successful women appeared for the first time. Women had never before competed for this examination.

Sir William Pryke elected Lord Mayor of London.

30. At the Rothamsted Experimental Station, the third quarter of the year showed a rainfall of 2.990 inches above the average, and sunshine 105.2 hours below the average.

OCTOBER.

4. Summer time ended at 3 A.M. (See under April 19.)

10. A peerage was conferred on the Rt. Hon. Sir George Lloyd on his appointment as High Commissioner for Egypt (Baron Lloyd of Dolobran in the county of Montgomery).

13. The centenary celebrations of the Law Society commenced at the Society's Hall in Chancery Lane.

15. The Prince of Wales returned from his African and South American tour. (See under March 28.)

21. The Times announced the receipt by the Chancellor of the Exchequer from an anonymous contributor of the sum of 1,000l. towards the reduction of the National Debt.

23. The Times announced that the Textile Institute had been granted a Royal Charter.

26. At a meeting of the British Empire Exhibition Association it was unanimously resolved voluntarily to wind up the company.

28. Mr. Allen B. Ramsay, M.A., Lower Master of Eton College, was appointed Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge.

30. The appointment of Mr. Edward Wood, Minister of Agriculture, to be Viceroy of India in succession to Lord Reading was announced. 31. The British Empire Exhibition at Wembley was officially closed by the Duke of York.

- Dr. Nansen elected Rector of the University of St. Andrews.

NOVEMBER.

2. The new electric railway from Baker Street to Watford, constructed by the Metropolitan and London & North-Eastern railway companies, was opened.

2. Llyn Eigiau, one of the natural lakes in the Welsh hills on the west side of the river Conway, burst its embankment. Many lives were lost and much damage was done to property.

3. The Times announced that arrangements had been made to transfer the Foundling Hospital to the premises formerly occupied by the Royal St. Ann's Schools, Redhill.

5. War bonds to the value of 5000l. were sent anonymously to the Chancellor of the Exchequer towards the reduction of the National Debt.

- Mr. A. B. Poynton, Fellow of University College, was elected Public Orator at Oxford.

7. The Marchese de Pinedo returned to Rome after a flight round the world which he commenced on April 21.

8. The Paris Exhibition of Decorative Arts was closed, after having been visited during the six months in which it was open, by 15,991,746 persons. (See under April 28.)

10. The Rev. Henry de Candole, Canon of Westminster, was appointed to the Deanery of Bristol.

12. The Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded to Professor Siegbahn, of the University of Upsala.

13. The loss of Submarine M1 was announced; 4 officers and 64 men lost their lives.

Mr. Walter Hamilton Moberly, Principal of University College, Exeter, was elected Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester, in succession to Sir Henry A. Miers.

At the Galloway by-election, Mr. C. R. Streatfeild retained the seat for the Conservatives by a majority of 928.

19. To fill the places of the late M. Maurice Barrès, the Comte d'Haussonville and M. Anatole France, the Academie Francaise elected M. Louis Bertrand, the Duc de la Force, and M. Paul Valery.

20. Death of Queen Alexandra.

23. The 4-lb. loaf in London was raised in price from 9d. to 94d.

A Royal Charter of Incorporation was granted to the London

Playing Fields Society.

27. The public funeral of Queen Alexandra. All theatres were closed in London.

28. Mr. Alfred Ernest William Hazel, Vice-President and Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, was appointed Principal of the College.

DECEMBER.

3. At the by-election at Bury St. Edmunds, Mr. Walter Guinness, Minister of Agriculture, retained the seat for the Conservatives.

Sir Charles Hyde, proprietor of the Birmingham Post and the Birmingham Mail, made a gift of 100,000l. to the University of Birmingham.

4. The "Meeting for Sufferings," the executive body of the Society of Friends in Great Britain, sat for the last time at Devonshire House, Bishopsgate, which, for 250 years, had been the Friends' headquarters.

5. The Times announced that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had been informed by the head of a Scottish firm, who, in 1920, surrendered for a period of five years all interest on 100,000l. War Stock, that he desired to continue to surrender this interest for a further five years.

6. The frosty weather was so keen that in many parts of London people were able to skate.

8. It was announced that the ultimate loss or deficiency on the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley would amount to 1,581,9057.

10. Dr. Cyril Norwood, Master of Marlborough College, was appointed to be Master of Harrow, in succession to the Rev. Lionel Ford, Deandesignate of York.

16. The St. Paul's Cathedral Preservation Fund, opened by The Times, reached 250,5331. (See under January 8.)

Princess Mary, Viscountess Lascelles, inaugurated the work of constructing the Mersey Tunnel.

20. L'Etoile Belge, the important Liberal newspaper of Brussels, celebrated the seventy-fifth anniversary of its foundation.

23. The Rt. Hon. Mr. Edward Wood, the Viceroy-designate of India, was elevated to the Peerage, and took the title of Baron Irwin of Kirby Underdale, in the County of York.

Pope Pius XI. introduced into the Catholic Calendar a new festival, to be called "the Feast of Christ the King," to be celebrated annually on the last Sunday in October.

24. Pope Pius XI. closed the Holy Door in the Basilica of St. Peter's in the Vatican, and thereby brought to a close the Jubilee Year of 1925. It is estimated that the total number of pilgrims to Rome was one and a quarter million.

Hagley Hall, the historic seat of the Lyttelton family in Worcestershire, was almost completely destroyed by fire.

29. The Times reported that a new organisation for the development of horse-breeding had been established under the style of "The Institute of the Horse."

30. Very stormy weather prevailed all round the coast; the speed of the wind was said to have reached 83 miles an hour.

31. The year closed with great floods, both at home and abroad. Many rivers overflowed their banks.

In regard to the weather, the year 1925 was somewhat abnormal. At the Rothamsted Experimental Station the amount of sunshine registered was 1,506-4 hours-58.7 below the average; and the actual rainfall was 29.584 inches-an excess of 0.925 inch.