Alfred Newens and his family and staff posed
infront of the Kew shop. Mrs Newens stands to the left of Alfred.
On his right is his son Frank, who distinguished himself as
a photographer and his daughter Kathleen who with John, (holding
the pony) continued in business all her life.
Robert Newens left his son Alfred Nashbar Newens to start a
new establishment on the Kew Road in 1887, passing on the now
family secret recipe of the 'Maids of Honour'.
Alfred Newens died in 1927 leaving his business to be carried
on by his son John and daughter Kathleen. During the Second
World War the bakery suffered severe bomb damage and the future
looked bleak. |
 |
 |
| the
Kew shop |
|
 |
| Maids
of Honour |
|
 |
Mr. Peter Newens, John's son, left the army and
set to work to get the business back on its feet again by rebuilding
the bakehouse and installing new gas ovens and also remodelling
the shop front. Since which time the shop has gone from strength
to strength and the bakery still provides a mouth watering experience
for any visitor in its huge variety of high quality home made
iced and plain cakes, meat pies, cream teas and traditional
English luncheons.
Some stories go even further and claim that in order to protect
the secret the unfortunate 'Maid' who invented the cake was
imprisoned within the palace grounds and ordered to produce
the pastries solely for, King Henry and the Royal Household!
It is still owned and run by the Newens family and they continue
to serve their long standing speciality 'Maids of Honour' which
remain a closely kept family secret recipe to this day. |