Rosa Lewis
Encyclopedia
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
and owner of The Cavendish Hotel
The Cavendish Hotel
The Cavendish Hotel is a modern 4-star, 230-bedroom, luxury hotel in Central London, United Kingdom. It is currently known as "The Cavendish London" and it is privately owned. It is located on Jermyn Street and has a second entrance on Duke Street...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, located at the intersection of Jermyn Street
Jermyn Street
Jermyn Street is a street in the City of Westminster, central London, to the south, parallel and adjacent to Piccadilly.It is well known as a street where the shops are almost exclusively aimed at the Gentleman's market and is famous for its resident shirtmakers Jermyn Street is a street in the...
and Duke Street, St James. Known as the "Queen of Cooks", her culinary skills were highly prized by Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
, 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 LeytonLeyton
Leyton is an area of north-east London and part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, located north east of Charing Cross. It borders Walthamstow and Leytonstone; Stratford in Newham; and Homerton and Lower Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney....
, 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
Auguste Escoffier
Georges Auguste Escoffier was a French chef, restaurateur and culinary writer who popularized and updated traditional French cooking methods. He is a legendary figure among chefs and gourmands, and was one of the most important leaders in the development of modern French cuisine...
, 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. One day, Rosa chased Lady Churchill's then ten-year-old, red-haired son Winston
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
out of her kitchen, shouting "Hop it, copper knob."
She married butler
Butler
A butler 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 also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its...
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 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
Philippe, Comte de Paris
Philippe d'Orléans, Count of Paris was the grandson of Louis Philippe I, King of the French. He was a claimant to the French throne from 1848 until his death.-Early life:...
; 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, who presented her with his portrait. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, she had it hung in the men's toilet.
Richard Hillary
Richard Hillary
Flight Lieutenant Richard Hope Hillary was a Battle of Britain pilot who died during World War II...
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 HotelThe Cavendish HotelThe Cavendish Hotel is a modern 4-star, 230-bedroom, luxury hotel in Central London, United Kingdom. It is currently known as "The Cavendish London" and it is privately owned. It is located on Jermyn Street and has a second entrance on Duke Street...
. 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, 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 MemorialAlbert MemorialThe Albert Memorial is situated in Kensington Gardens, London, England, directly to the north of the Royal Albert Hall. It was commissioned by Queen Victoria in memory of her beloved husband, Prince Albert who died of typhoid in 1861. The memorial was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the...
at the end."
Lewis died in her sleep on November 8, 1952 at the age of 85. She was buried in Putney Vale Cemetery
Putney Vale Cemetery
Putney Vale Cemetery and Crematorium in London is surrounded by Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park, and is located within forty-seven acres of parkland. The cemetery was opened in 1891 and the crematorium in 1938...
.
In fiction
The 1976-77 BBC television series, The Duchess of Duke StreetThe Duchess of Duke Street
The Duchess Of Duke Street is a BBC television drama series set in London between 1900 and 1935. It was created by John Hawkesworth, the former producer of the highly successful ITV period drama Upstairs, Downstairs...
, starring Gemma Jones
Gemma Jones
Gemma Jones is an English character actress on both stage and screen.-Early life:Jones was born in London, England, the daughter of Irene and Griffith Jones, an actor. Her brother, Nicholas Jones, is also an actor...
, was loosely based on her life. It is said that some of the scenes in Vile Bodies
Vile Bodies
Vile Bodies is a 1930 novel by Evelyn Waugh satirising the Bright Young People: decadent young London society between World War I and World War II.-Title:The title comes from the Epistle to the Philippians 3:21...
by Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
also were inspired by the Cavendish Hotel under Lewis' management, in which she appears as her fictional counterpart Lottie Crump.