Subject

Hotelier. Born Rosa Ovenden at Leyton, Essex. She started her working life as a servant and graduated to become an itinerant cook for many of the famous families of the time. In 1883 she married the wonderfully named Excelsior Tyrel Chiney Lewis. They set up home in Chelsea, which they ran as a lodging house for upper class liaisons. She bought the Cavendish Hotel in 1902 and quickly established its international reputation. She died at the hotel.