Clemency Anne Rosemary Gray (née Swann; 28 January 1939 – 28 February 2010) was a British chef and cookery writer. With

Ruth Rogers Ruth Rogers, Baroness Rogers of Riverside, (; born 7 July 1948) is an American-born British chef who owns and runs the Michelin starred Italian restaurant The River Café in Hammersmith, London.Adam LusheRecord 10 women chefs win Michelin sta ...

, she set up The River Café in 1987, which won a

Michelin star The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

in 1998. It was here that the talents of

Jamie Oliver James Trevor Oliver MBE OSI (born 27 May 1975) is an English chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He is known for his casual approach to cuisine, which has led him to front numerous television shows and open many restaurants. Oliver reache ...

were first spotted. She had a profound influence on a generation of celebrity chefs including Oliver,

Theo Randall Theo Randall (born 1967) is an English chef who specialises in Italian cuisine. He is the proprietor of Theo Randall at the InterContinental Hotel London Park Lane, although he is perhaps best known for being awarded a Michelin star at The River ...

, April Bloomfield and

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Hugh Christopher Edmund Fearnley-Whittingstall (born 14 January 1965) is an English celebrity chef, television personality, journalist, food writer, and campaigner on food and environmental issues. Fearnley-Whittingstall hosted the ''River Cot ...

, the latter stating that she had had more influence on him than any other person he had worked with. She wrote a series of cookery books and presented a twelve-part television programme for

Channel Four Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service i ...

, ''The Italian Kitchen'', in 1998.

Early life

She was born in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

. Six months before her birth, her father, Flight Lieutenant Clement Nelson Swann, age 26, and a seven-month-old sister were killed in a domestic fire. She was brought up in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. Her mother, (Elizabeth) Anne Lawrence, daughter of Sir William Lawrence, 3rd Baronet, settled near

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

, Surrey, and Rose studied at the Guildford College of Art, where she gained a BA in Fine Art. Her career as a professional chef began at

Nell's Nell's (or Nells) was a nightclub located on 246 West 14th Street in downtown Manhattan. It opened in the fall of 1986 in the space of a former electronics store and closed May 30, 2004. History Nell's opened in the fall of 1986 in the space of a ...

restaurant in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, after which time she returned to London.

Last years

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001. In 2004 she became a "

Breast Cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

Ambassador" and was also co-founder of the Cooks in Schools charity. She was in remission from breast cancer for five years before it returned and

metastasis Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spread from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, then, ...

ed to her brain in late 2009 or early 2010. She died at home in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

, London, aged 71, on 28 February 2010. She had been working on what was to be her last book (with Ruth Rogers), the ''River Café Classic Italian Cookery Book''. Her other works (many of which were co-authored with Ruth Rogers) include the ''River Café Cookbook'', the ''River Café Cookbook Green'' and ''River Café Pocket Books: Salads and Vegetables''.

Personal life

In 1961 or 1962, she married Michael Selby Gray. They had a son, Ossian, and two daughters, Hester and Lucy; the marriage ended in divorce. She had a son, Dante MacIlwaine Gray (born 1973), by her partner David Robin MacIlwaine, to whom she was married from 2004 until her death. They lived part of their life in

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

, where Rose first developed her interest in Italian food.

Early life

Last years

Personal life

References

See also