Clarissa Dickson-Wright
Encyclopedia
Clarissa Dickson Wright is an English celebrity chef, television personality, businesswoman and formerly a barrister, who is best known as one half, along with Jennifer Paterson
, of the Two Fat Ladies
. Having trained as a lawyer, Dickson Wright is the youngest woman ever to be called to the Bar
.
in London
. The youngest of four children, she was given 11 forenames. Her father, Arthur Dickson Wright, was a surgeon to the Royal Family
, and her mother, Molly, was an Australia
n heiress. Her cousin is comedian Alexander Armstrong
. Born to a wealthy family, she had a Roman Catholic childhood and grew up in a nine-bedroom house in St. John's Wood that was staffed with several servants. Dickson Wright's father was an alcoholic who subjected his wife and children to verbal and physical abuse continuing into Clarissa Dickson Wright's adulthood, although this is a claim that her older sister Heather has always denied. At the age of 11, Clarissa Dickson Wright was sent to Sacred Heart School
, a boarding school in Hove
, East Sussex
. After school she studied for the Bar
at Gray's Inn
, while pursuing a law degree at University College London
.
in 1975, she inherited £2.8 million. Her mother's death, combined a few years later with her father's, left her in a deep depression, and she drank heavily for the following 12 years.
In 1979, Clarissa Dickson Wright took control of the food at a drinking club in St James's Place in London. While there she met Clive, a fellow alcoholic, and they had a relationship until his death in 1982 from kidney failure
at the age of 40. Shortly thereafter she was disbarred
for practising without chambers. Dickson Wright claims that, during her alcoholic years, she had sex with an MP
behind the Speaker's
chair in the House of Commons
. By 1983, she was homeless and staying with friends. For two years she was cook-housekeeper for a family in Sussex
until she was fired for her alcohol-induced behaviour. After being charged with driving under the influence, Dickson Wright started to attend Alcoholics Anonymous
meetings, counselling, and a detox centre. In 1987, she attended a recovery centre called Promis in Kent
; she left after 10 weeks. Wright was a devout Roman Catholic since childhood. In her 2009 Book Rifling through my Draws she expressed a belief in reincarnation. She is a keen supporter of hunting.
, London, for the shop's owner. After seven years, the owner decided to sell the shop, and as Dickson Wright did not have the money to buy it she was let go. She then moved to Edinburgh
and ran the Cooks Book Shop.
During her time in Edinburgh, television producer Patricia Llewellyn
asked her and Jennifer Paterson
if they wanted to make a television programme; they made a pilot in autumn 1994. After the pilot, BBC2
commissioned a series of Two Fat Ladies
. Three successful series were made and shown around the world. Paterson died in 1999 mid-way through the fourth series.
in Clarissa and the Countryman from 2000 to 2003 and played the gamekeeper in the sitcom Absolutely Fabulous
in 2003. In 2005, Dickson Wright took part in the BBC reality television show Art School.
Dickson Wright has campaigned for the Countryside Alliance
and was the first female Rector of the University of Aberdeen
. Her autobiography
, Spilling The Beans, was published in September 2007. In 2008, she presented a one-off documentary for BBC Four
, Clarissa and the King's Cookbook, where she makes recipes from a cookbook dating to the reign of Richard II
.
Along with racehorse trainer Sir Mark Prescott
, Dickson Wright was charged with hare coursing
with dogs in North Yorkshire
in March 2007 under a private prosecution lodged by the International Fund for Animal Welfare under the Hunting Act 2004
. On September 1, 2009, she and Prescott pleaded guilty and received an absolute discharge at Scarborough Magistrate
s' Court. They said that they were invited to the event by the Yorkshire Greyhound Field Trialling Club, which told the court that it believed it was running a legal event by using muzzled dogs.
Jennifer Paterson
Jennifer Mary Paterson was a British celebrity chef, actress and television personality who appeared on the television programme Two Fat Ladies with Clarissa Dickson Wright....
, of the Two Fat Ladies
Two Fat Ladies
Two Fat Ladies was a BBC Two television cooking programme starring Clarissa Dickson Wright and Jennifer Paterson. It originally ran for four seasons, from 1996 to 1999. The show was produced by the BBC and also appeared on the Food Network in the U.S. and on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
. Having trained as a lawyer, Dickson Wright is the youngest woman ever to be called to the Bar
Barristers in England and Wales
Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. -Origin of the profession:The work of senior legal professionals in England and Wales...
.
Early life
Clarissa Theresa Philomena Aileen Mary Josephine Agnes Elsie Trilby Louise Esmerelda Dickson-Wright was born in St John's WoodSt John's Wood
St John's Wood is a district of north-west London, England, in the City of Westminster, and at the north-west end of Regent's Park. It is approximately 2.5 miles north-west of Charing Cross. Once part of the Great Middlesex Forest, it was later owned by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem...
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...
. The youngest of four children, she was given 11 forenames. Her father, Arthur Dickson Wright, was a surgeon to the Royal Family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
, and her mother, Molly, was an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n heiress. Her cousin is comedian Alexander Armstrong
Alexander Armstrong (comedian)
Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong is a British comedian, actor and television presenter.-Early life and career:Armstrong was born in Rothbury, Northumberland, the youngest of three children, to Henry Angus Armstrong and his wife Emma Virginia Peronnet Thompson-McCausland, daughter of Lucius...
. Born to a wealthy family, she had a Roman Catholic childhood and grew up in a nine-bedroom house in St. John's Wood that was staffed with several servants. Dickson Wright's father was an alcoholic who subjected his wife and children to verbal and physical abuse continuing into Clarissa Dickson Wright's adulthood, although this is a claim that her older sister Heather has always denied. At the age of 11, Clarissa Dickson Wright was sent to Sacred Heart School
Beechwood Sacred Heart School
Beechwood Sacred Heart School is a co-educational independent school for boys and girls aged 3 – 18, which comprises a Nursery, Preparatory School and Senior School, with boarding for girls aged 11 – 18...
, a boarding school in Hove
Hove
Hove is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with which it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast...
, East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
. After school she studied for the Bar
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
at Gray's Inn
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
, while pursuing a law degree at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
.
Later life
At the age of 21, Dickson Wright passed her exams and became the country's youngest barrister. After her mother died of a heart attackMyocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in 1975, she inherited £2.8 million. Her mother's death, combined a few years later with her father's, left her in a deep depression, and she drank heavily for the following 12 years.
In 1979, Clarissa Dickson Wright took control of the food at a drinking club in St James's Place in London. While there she met Clive, a fellow alcoholic, and they had a relationship until his death in 1982 from kidney failure
Renal failure
Renal failure or kidney failure describes a medical condition in which the kidneys fail to adequately filter toxins and waste products from the blood...
at the age of 40. Shortly thereafter she was disbarred
Disbarment
Disbarment is the removal of a lawyer from a bar association or the practice of law, thus revoking his or her law license or admission to practice law...
for practising without chambers. Dickson Wright claims that, during her alcoholic years, she had sex with an MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
behind the Speaker's
Speaker of the British House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...
chair in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
. By 1983, she was homeless and staying with friends. For two years she was cook-housekeeper for a family in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
until she was fired for her alcohol-induced behaviour. After being charged with driving under the influence, Dickson Wright started to attend Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
meetings, counselling, and a detox centre. In 1987, she attended a recovery centre called Promis in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
; she left after 10 weeks. Wright was a devout Roman Catholic since childhood. In her 2009 Book Rifling through my Draws she expressed a belief in reincarnation. She is a keen supporter of hunting.
Cooking and television career
Seven months after leaving Promis, Dickson Wright offered to run Books For Cooks, a shop and cafe in Portobello RoadPortobello Road
Portobello Road is a street in the Notting Hill district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London, England. It runs almost the length of Notting Hill from south to north, roughly parallel with Ladbroke Grove. On Saturdays it is home to Portobello Road Market, one of London's...
, London, for the shop's owner. After seven years, the owner decided to sell the shop, and as Dickson Wright did not have the money to buy it she was let go. She then moved to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
and ran the Cooks Book Shop.
During her time in Edinburgh, television producer Patricia Llewellyn
Patricia Llewellyn
Patricia Llewellyn is a British television producer and current Managing Director of the television production company, Optomen...
asked her and Jennifer Paterson
Jennifer Paterson
Jennifer Mary Paterson was a British celebrity chef, actress and television personality who appeared on the television programme Two Fat Ladies with Clarissa Dickson Wright....
if they wanted to make a television programme; they made a pilot in autumn 1994. After the pilot, BBC2
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
commissioned a series of Two Fat Ladies
Two Fat Ladies
Two Fat Ladies was a BBC Two television cooking programme starring Clarissa Dickson Wright and Jennifer Paterson. It originally ran for four seasons, from 1996 to 1999. The show was produced by the BBC and also appeared on the Food Network in the U.S. and on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
. Three successful series were made and shown around the world. Paterson died in 1999 mid-way through the fourth series.
Recent years
Two Fat Ladies ended after Paterson's death. Dickson Wright appeared with Johnny ScottSir John Scott, 5th Baronet
Sir John Scott, 5th Baronet, of Beauclerc, Bywell St.Andrews, Northumberland. succeeded his father Sir Walter Scott as baronet in 1992....
in Clarissa and the Countryman from 2000 to 2003 and played the gamekeeper in the sitcom Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks...
in 2003. In 2005, Dickson Wright took part in the BBC reality television show Art School.
Dickson Wright has campaigned for the Countryside Alliance
Countryside Alliance
The Countryside Alliance is a British organisation promoting issues relating to the countryside such as country sports, including hunting, shooting and angling...
and was the first female Rector of the University of Aberdeen
Rector of the University of Aberdeen
The Lord Rector of the University of Aberdeen is the students' representative and chairman in the University Court of the University of Aberdeen. The position is rarely known by its full title and most often referred to simply as "Rector". The Rector is elected by students of the University and...
. Her autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, Spilling The Beans, was published in September 2007. In 2008, she presented a one-off documentary for BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
, Clarissa and the King's Cookbook, where she makes recipes from a cookbook dating to the reign of Richard II
Richard II of England
Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...
.
Along with racehorse trainer Sir Mark Prescott
Mark Prescott
Sir Mark Prescott, 3rd Baronet is a race horse trainer with over 1300 winners to his name. An English baronet he inherited his knighthood from his father and obtained his first trainers license in 1970.-Biography:...
, Dickson Wright was charged with hare coursing
Hare coursing
Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with greyhounds and other sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight and not by scent. It is a competitive sport, in which dogs are tested on their ability to run, overtake and turn a hare, rather than a form of hunting aiming at the capture of game. It has a...
with dogs in North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
in March 2007 under a private prosecution lodged by the International Fund for Animal Welfare under the Hunting Act 2004
Hunting Act 2004
The Hunting Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The effect of the Act is to outlaw hunting with dogs in England and Wales from 18 February 2005...
. On September 1, 2009, she and Prescott pleaded guilty and received an absolute discharge at Scarborough Magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
s' Court. They said that they were invited to the event by the Yorkshire Greyhound Field Trialling Club, which told the court that it believed it was running a legal event by using muzzled dogs.
External links
- Clarissa Dickson Wright at BBC Food