Hotelier.
Born Switzerland, son of a peasant farmer. Started work as a waiter and worked his way up, in Paris, Vienna, Lucerne, etc. Came to London in 1889 as the manager of Richard D'Oyly Carte's Savoy Hotel from which he was sacked in a financial scandal which was hushed up. He left to set up his own chain of hotels, starting in Paris. Called "hotelier to Kings and King of hoteliers" by Edward VII, a regular customer.
In 1902, having planned elaborate festivities to coincide with the coronation of Edward VII, he suffered a serious breakdown when this event was indefinitely postponed due to the King's ill-health. Died in hospital in Switzerland.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
César Ritz
Commemorated ati
Other Subjects
Sir Polydore de Keyser
Born Belgium. The family moved to London in 1842 and his father established De Keyser's Royal Hotel on the site of what is now Unilever House. The son joined the business and the hotel became the l...
Person, Commerce, Lord Mayor, Politics & Administration, Belgium
Bank of England
Londonist have an interesting post about animals at the Bank of England. The Guardian, 16 April 2022, reporting on an exhibition at the Bank of England, informed that the Bank once owned 599 slave...
Wilson Smithett & Co Ltd
Wholesalers of coffee, tea, cocoa and spices, located at 202 Blackfriars Road (2021). The Daily Mail has an interesting 2004 article about tea tasting at the Wilson, Smithett tea brokers office, S...
Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, OM, GBE, CVO, FRCA, FBA, FKC
Investment banker. We cannot find any specific connection between Lord Rothschild and Laurence Olivier, upon whose statue his name as a benefactor appears. We asked our colleague, Andrew Behan, to...
Harkness Roses
Rose growing company, founded in Yorkshire by brothers John and Robert Harkness, and still run as a family firm.
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Councillor A. C. Shearing
Architect of the British Legion Hornsey in 1929.
John Alexander Sinton, VC
Awarded the VC for his heroism on 8-21 January 1916, age 31, while serving in the Indian Medical Service, Indian Army. "Over a two week period, although shot in both arms and in the side he remaine...
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