The Duchess of Duke Street – S01 E12

A word of warning, this is a great series, but some of the video quality is poor. Yet years ago I enjoyed this very much.

On a different note the food consultant was one Michael Smith who wrote some excellent books about British food

The Duchess of Duke Street is a BBC television drama series set in London between 1900 and 1925. It was created by John Hawkesworth, previously the producer of the ITV period drama Upstairs, Downstairs.^[1] It starred Gemma Jones as Louisa Leyton/Trotter, the eponymous “Duchess” who works her way up from servant to renowned cook to proprietrix of the upper-class Bentinck Hotel in Duke Street, St. James’s, in London.

The story is loosely based on the real-life career of Rosa Lewis (née Ovenden), the “Duchess of Jermyn Street“, who ran the Cavendish Hotel in London.^[2] When the show first aired, there were many people who still remembered her, as she lived until 1952. According to census returns, she was born in Leyton, Essex, to a watchmaker. In the series, Louisa’s family name is Leyton, and her father is a clock-maker.