Rosa Lewis
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Rosa Lewis (''née'' Ovenden; 1867–1952) was an English
cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...
and owner of
The Cavendish Hotel The Cavendish Hotel is a modern 4-star, 230-bedroom, luxury hotel in St James's, London, United Kingdom, facing the restaurant front of Fortnum and Mason on Piccadilly. Across Piccadilly is Mayfair. It is currently known as "The Cavendish Lond ...
in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, located at the intersection of
Jermyn Street Jermyn Street is a one-way street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster in London, England. It is to the south of, parallel, and adjacent to Piccadilly. Jermyn Street is known as a street for gentlemen's-clothing retailers. Hist ...
and Duke Street, St. James. Known as the "Queen of Cooks", her culinary skills were highly prized by
Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...
, with whom she was rumoured to have had an affair in the 1890s. She was also called "The Duchess of Jermyn Street."


Life

She was born in Leyton, Essex, the fifth of nine children. Her father was a watchmaker and later an undertaker. She left school at 12 to go into domestic service, working her way up to cook. She claimed that the great chef
Auguste Escoffier Georges Auguste Escoffier (; 28 October 1846 – 12 February 1935) was a French chef, restaurateur and culinary writer who popularized and updated traditional French cooking methods. Much of Escoffier's technique was based on that of Marie-Antoi ...
, then at the Carlton Hotel, taught her about cooking. It was he who named her the "Queen of Cooks". One of her employers was
Lady Randolph Churchill Jennie Spencer-Churchill (; 9 January 1854 – 29 June 1921), known as Lady Randolph Churchill, was an American-born British socialite, the wife of Lord Randolph Churchill, and the mother of British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill. Early ...
. One day, Rosa chased Lady Randolph's then ten-year-old, red-haired son Winston out of her kitchen, shouting "Hop it, copper knob." She married
butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...
Chiney Lewis in 1893. However, she did not think much of her husband. "My family said that if I did not marry Mr. Lewis they would shoot me. ... So we were married and I threw the ring at him at the church door and left him flat." There are several versions describing how she met Edward VII. According to ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine, it was Lady Randolph who introduced them. However, the Cavendish Hotel biography states they first met while she was employed by
Philippe, Comte de Paris Prince Philippe of Orléans, Count of Paris (Louis Philippe Albert; 24 August 1838 – 8 September 1894), was disputedly King of the French from 24 to 26 February 1848 as Louis Philippe II, although he was never officially proclaimed as such. ...
; he complimented her for the excellence of the dinner. In any case, he enjoyed her cooking very much. It was suspected by some that he helped her purchase the Cavendish Hotel in 1902. Another admirer of her culinary skills was Kaiser
Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...
, who presented her with his portrait. During
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, she had it hung upside down in the men's toilet. In 1914 it was reported that she "cooked dinners for the regiments of the Household Cavalry... and at one time controlled the kitchen of White's Club", the latter a reference to
White's White's is a gentlemen's club in St James's, London. Founded in 1693 as a hot chocolate shop in Mayfair, it is the oldest gentleman's club in London. It moved to its current premises on St James's Street in 1778. Status White's is the oldes ...
"the oldest and most exclusive gentleman's club in London".
Richard Hillary Flight Lieutenant Richard Hope Hillary (20 April 1919 – 8 January 1943) was an Anglo-Australian Royal Air Force fighter pilot during the Second World War. He wrote the book '' The Last Enemy'' about his experiences during the Battle of Brit ...
knew her, and wrote in '' The Last Enemy'': :One night when we were in town we walked around to see Rosa Lewis at
The Cavendish Hotel The Cavendish Hotel is a modern 4-star, 230-bedroom, luxury hotel in St James's, London, United Kingdom, facing the restaurant front of Fortnum and Mason on Piccadilly. Across Piccadilly is Mayfair. It is currently known as "The Cavendish Lond ...
. Suddenly caught by a stroke, she had been rushed to the London Clinic, where she refused to allow any of the nurses to touch her. After a week she saw the bill and immediately got up and left. :When we arrived, there she was, seventy-six years old, shrieking with laughter and waving a glass of
champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...
, apparently none the worse. She grabbed me by the arm and peered into my face. "God, aren't you dead yet either, young Hillary? Come here and I'll tell you something. Don't you ever die. In the last two weeks I've been right up to the gates of 'eaven and 'ell and they're both bloody!" :A few weeks later a heavy bomb landed right on the Cavendish, but Rosa emerged triumphant, pulling bits of glass out of her hair and trumpeting with rage. Whatever else may go in this war, we shall still have Rosa Lewis and the
Albert Memorial The Albert Memorial, directly north of the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington Gardens, London, was commissioned by Queen Victoria in memory of her beloved husband Prince Albert, who died in 1861. Designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the Gothic ...
at the end. Lewis died in her sleep on 8 November 1952 at the age of 85.


In fiction

The 1976-77 BBC television series, ''
The Duchess of Duke Street ''The Duchess of Duke Street'' is a BBC television drama series set in London between the late 1800s and 1925. It was created by John Hawkesworth, previously the producer of the ITV period drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. It starred Gemma Jo ...
'', starring
Gemma Jones Jennifer "Gemma" Jones (born 4 December 1942) is an English actress. Appearing on both stage and screen, her film appearances include ''Sense and Sensibility'' (1995), the ''Bridget Jones'' series (2001–2016), the ''Harry Potter'' series ( ...
, was loosely based on her life. It is said that some of the scenes in ''
Vile Bodies Vile may refer to: Characters * Vile (Mega Man X), a character from the Mega Man X game series * Doctor Vile (Dr. Weil), a character from the Mega Man Zero game series * V.I.L.E., a fictional villain group in the ''Carmen Sandiego'' franchise ...
'' by
Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...
also were inspired by the Cavendish Hotel under Lewis' management, in which she appears as her fictional counterpart Lottie Crump.


Plaque

On 16 November 2006,
Gemma Jones Jennifer "Gemma" Jones (born 4 December 1942) is an English actress. Appearing on both stage and screen, her film appearances include ''Sense and Sensibility'' (1995), the ''Bridget Jones'' series (2001–2016), the ''Harry Potter'' series ( ...
unveiled Westminster City Council's Commemorative Green plaque to Lewis, near the entrance to the old hotel in Jermyn Street. The plaque was the 68th in the Scheme. It honoured Lewis as a Chef de Cuisine and Hotelier.Rosa Lewis Green plaque
on Open Plaques


References


External links




Photograph of Green plaque honouring Rosa Lewis
outside The Cavendish Hotel, London W1. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Rosa 1867 births 1952 deaths Burials at Putney Vale Cemetery English chefs Mistresses of Edward VII