Patience Gray
Encyclopedia
Patience Jean Gray was a British cookery and travel writer of the mid-20th century. Her most popular books were Plats Du Jour (1957), written with Primrose Boyd about French cooking, and Honey From A Weed (1986), an account of the Mediterranean way of life.
, near Godalming
, Surrey
, she was the second of the three daughters of Olive and Hermann Stanham, then an artillery officer. She spent her childhood in Surrey and on the Sussex
coast. As a teenager she lived with her uncle and aunt in London, attending Queen's college in Harley Street, a prelude to the London School of Economics and a degree under the tutelage of the later Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell
. Patience discovered late in life that her father, a surgeon, then a pig farmer, and finally a photographer, was the son of a Polish rabbi called Warschavski, who had arrived in England in 1861 and become a Unitarian
minister.
In the early 1940s she had two children (Nicolas and Miranda), but separated from their father, whose name she had taken by deed-poll. In the mid-1950s she collaborated with a friend Primrose Boyd to write Plats Du Jour, which was reprinted by Persephone Books
in 2008. Its success led her to work on the women's page of the Observer newspaper.
In the early 1960s she met and fell in love with the Belgian artist and sculptor Norman Mommens
. They embarked on a journey around the Mediterranean to Provence
, Carrara
, Catalonia
, the Greek island of Naxos, and finally southern Italy, where they settled in 1970 in Puglia, in a farmhouse named Spigolizzi. She writes about this journey in Honey From A Weed, a book about rural life, folklore and cookery. She refused to have such modern conveniences as the refrigerator, telephone or electric light at Spigolizzi. Ring Doves And Snakes (1989) was about their time on Naxos. In 1994 she eventually married Mommens, who died in 2000.
She wrote two other books : The Centaur's Kitchen (1964, but published posthumously in 2005), a set of recipes for the Chinese cooks of the Blue Funnel Shipping Line aboard the newly launched cargo liner
, the Centaur, plying from western Australia to Singapore; and Work Adventures Childhood Dreams (published 1999), a collection of autobiographical essays.
Life and writings
Born Patience Jean Stanham at ShacklefordShackleford
Shackleford is a village in Surrey, England lying to the west of the A3 between Guildford and Petersfield. Neighbouring villages include Puttenham, Peper Harrow and Eashing....
, near Godalming
Godalming
Godalming is a town and civil parish in the Waverley district of the county of Surrey, England, south of Guildford. It is built on the banks of the River Wey and is a prosperous part of the London commuter belt. Godalming shares a three-way twinning arrangement with the towns of Joigny in France...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, she was the second of the three daughters of Olive and Hermann Stanham, then an artillery officer. She spent her childhood in Surrey and on the 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...
coast. As a teenager she lived with her uncle and aunt in London, attending Queen's college in Harley Street, a prelude to the London School of Economics and a degree under the tutelage of the later Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell
Hugh Gaitskell
Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell CBE was a British Labour politician, who held Cabinet office in Clement Attlee's governments, and was the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1955, until his death in 1963.-Early life:He was born in Kensington, London, the third and youngest...
. Patience discovered late in life that her father, a surgeon, then a pig farmer, and finally a photographer, was the son of a Polish rabbi called Warschavski, who had arrived in England in 1861 and become a Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
minister.
In the early 1940s she had two children (Nicolas and Miranda), but separated from their father, whose name she had taken by deed-poll. In the mid-1950s she collaborated with a friend Primrose Boyd to write Plats Du Jour, which was reprinted by Persephone Books
Persephone Books
Persephone Books is an independent publisher based in Bloomsbury, London. Founded in 1999 by Nicola Beauman, Persephone has a catalogue of 93 "neglected novels, diaries, poetry, short stories, non-fiction, biography and cookery books, mostly by women and mostly dating from the early to...
in 2008. Its success led her to work on the women's page of the Observer newspaper.
In the early 1960s she met and fell in love with the Belgian artist and sculptor Norman Mommens
Norman Mommens
Norman Mommens was a Belgian sculptor.Born in Antwerp, Belgium, Mommens was married to the English potter Ursula Trevelyan , but divorced her...
. They embarked on a journey around the Mediterranean to Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
, Carrara
Carrara
Carrara is a city and comune in the province of Massa-Carrara , notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some west-northwest of Florence....
, Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, the Greek island of Naxos, and finally southern Italy, where they settled in 1970 in Puglia, in a farmhouse named Spigolizzi. She writes about this journey in Honey From A Weed, a book about rural life, folklore and cookery. She refused to have such modern conveniences as the refrigerator, telephone or electric light at Spigolizzi. Ring Doves And Snakes (1989) was about their time on Naxos. In 1994 she eventually married Mommens, who died in 2000.
She wrote two other books : The Centaur's Kitchen (1964, but published posthumously in 2005), a set of recipes for the Chinese cooks of the Blue Funnel Shipping Line aboard the newly launched cargo liner
Cargo liner
A Cargo liner is a type of merchant ship which carried general cargo and often passengers. They became common just after the middle of the nineteenth century, and eventually gave way to container ships and other more specialized carriers in the latter half of the twentieth...
, the Centaur, plying from western Australia to Singapore; and Work Adventures Childhood Dreams (published 1999), a collection of autobiographical essays.
Books
- Plats Du Jour, 1957 ISBN 1-903155-60-6, Reprinted by Persephone BooksPersephone BooksPersephone Books is an independent publisher based in Bloomsbury, London. Founded in 1999 by Nicola Beauman, Persephone has a catalogue of 93 "neglected novels, diaries, poetry, short stories, non-fiction, biography and cookery books, mostly by women and mostly dating from the early to...
2006 - Honey From A Weed, 1986 ISBN 1-903018-20-X
- Work Adventures Childhood Dreams, 1999 ISBN 88-87809-01-1
- Ring Doves and Snakes, 1989 ISBN 0-333-48612-9
- The Centaur's Kitchen: A Book of French, Italian, Greek & Catalan Dishes for Ships' Cooks on the Blue Funnel Line, 2006 ISBN 978-1903018404