27 JANUARY 1990, Page 26

Lady Readings

Sir: Veronica Gillespie, in her moving article on the Kindertransport (`Blooms- bury House days', 6 January), refers to the chairman of 'The Care of Children from Germany' as 'Lady Reading, widow of the former Viceroy of India'. In fact the Dowager Lady Reading (Stella) was the founder chairman of the WVS and re- mained its chairman until her death in 1971. She was the second wife of the first Lord Reading.

It was my mother, Eva Reading, wife of the second Lord Reading, who took a very active part in the day to day work at Bloomsbury House. Her public work lay mainly in the field of child welfare. She was also an ardent Zionist. Naturally she Was distressed by the plight of Jewish children in Hitler's Germany and took a major part in bringing as many of them as possible to safety.

Joan Zuckerman

The Shooting Box, Burnham Thorpe, King's Lynn, Norfolk