This is by Stan Kegel, based on a pun by Richard Lederer. What a pair of punsters that is.
There was concern in the House of Lords when John Greenleaf announced his marriage to May Dolittle. After all, he was the Duke of Somerset, the current peer from a long family of dukes, and she was not only a commoner, but had been a London cabaret entertainer, whose humor tended to be somewhat, shall we say, risque. But they were obviously in love, and the Queen, herself, had given her blessings.
It was, therefore, with some apprehension, that his peers attended the Greenleaf’s first formal dinner after returning from their honeymoon in the Bahamas.
At the dinner table, May would entertain the guests with one of her stories that had made her famous. To every one’s surprise, John who had previously been considered prosaic and formal, would respond with a joke of his own, which was every bit as funny, even more so because it was so unexpected. May would make a pun, and John would follow with a few of his own. After the first few minutes, everyone was having the time of their life and sharing in the festivities of the occasion.
By the time the evening was over, everyone agreed they found Dame May Whitty, but John Greenleaf Whittier.