Clarissa Theresa Philomena Aileen Mary Josephine Agnes Elsie Trilby Louise Esmerelda Johnston Dickson Wright (24 June 1947 – 15 March 2014) was an English celebrity cook, television personality, writer, businesswoman, and former

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

. She was best known as one of the ''

Two Fat Ladies ''Two Fat Ladies'' was a British cooking programme starring Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright. It originally ran for four series – twenty-four episodes – from 9 October 1996 to 28 September 1999, being produced by Optomen, Optom ...

'', with

Jennifer Paterson Jennifer Mary Paterson (3 April 1928 – 10 August 1999) was a British celebrity cook, author, actress and television personality who appeared on the television programme '' Two Fat Ladies'' (1996–1999) with Clarissa Dickson Wright. Prior to ...

, in the television cooking programme from 1996 to 1999. She was an accredited cricket umpire and one of only two women to become a Guild Butcher.

Early life

Dickson Wright was born in

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster, London, England, about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Historically the northern part of the Civil Parish#An ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, the youngest of four children. Her father, Arthur Dickson Wright, was a surgeon to the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

who had served with the

Colonial Service The Colonial Service, also known as His/Her Majesty's Colonial Service and replaced in 1954 by Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), was the British government service that administered most of Britain's overseas possessions, under the aut ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, and her mother, Aileen Mary (Molly) Bath,'' Who's Who 2012'' was from "a well known and respected Singapore family".Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, vol. 58, issue 4, July 1976, p. 333, "Arthur Dickson Wright, MS FRCS" She said her father was an alcoholic who subjected his wife and children to verbal and physical abuse. At the age of 11, Wright was sent to the Convent of the Sacred Heart, an independent school for girls in the coastal town of

Hove Hove ( ) is a seaside resort in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove. Originally a fishing village surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th century in respon ...

in Sussex, and then to the Convent of the Sacred Heart at Woldingham. After school, Wright studied for a law degree at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, and undertook her

pupillage A pupillage, in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan and Hong Kong, is the final, vocational stage of training for those wishing to become practising barristers. Pupillage is similar to an apprenticeship, during which ba ...

to become a

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

Career

Early career

Dickson Wright was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1970. She later claimed (although she turned 23 that year) that this occurred when she was aged 21, and that she was the youngest woman ever to be called to the bar. After her mother died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in 1975, she inherited a considerable sum of money, which by her own account she squandered over the next eight years. Her mother's death, combined a year later with that of her father, who spent his final years aphasic and requiring the use of a wheelchair after a stroke, left her in a deep depression, and she drank heavily for the following 12 years. In 1979, Dickson Wright took control of the food at a drinking club in St James's Place in London. While there she met a fellow alcoholic named Clive (whose surname she never revealed); they had a relationship until his death in 1982 from

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...

at the age of 40. Shortly thereafter she was disbarred for practising without chambers. Dickson Wright said that, during her alcoholic years, she had sex with an MP behind the Speaker's chair in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. In the early 1980s, she was homeless and staying with friends. For two years she was cook-housekeeper for a family in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

until she was sacked for her alcohol-induced behaviour. After being charged with drink-driving, Dickson Wright started to attend

Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a global, peer-led Mutual aid, mutual-aid fellowship focused on an abstinence-based recovery model from alcoholism through its spiritually inclined twelve-step program. AA's Twelve Traditions, besides emphasizing anon ...

meetings, counselling, and a detox centre. She attended the Promis Recovery Centre at

Nonington Nonington () (variously, Nonnington, Nunyngton, Nonnyngton and Nunnington), is a civil parish and village in east Kent, halfway between the historic city of Canterbury and the English Channel, channel port town of Dover. The civil parish includes ...

."Clarissa Dickson Wright – obituary"
17 March 2014, ''The Daily Telegraph'' In her 2009 book ''Rifling Through My Drawers'' she expressed a belief in

reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the Philosophy, philosophical or Religion, religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new lifespan (disambiguation), lifespan in a different physical ...

. She was a keen supporter of hunting.

Cooking and television

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

commissioned a series of ''

''. Four series were made and shown around the world. Paterson died in 1999 midway through the fourth series.

Later years

''Two Fat Ladies'' ended in 1999 after Paterson's death. Dickson Wright appeared with Sir Johnny Scott in '' Clarissa and the Countryman'' from 2000 to 2003 and played the gamekeeper in the sitcom '' Absolutely Fabulous'' in 2003. In 2004 she closed her Edinburgh cookery book shop due to bankruptcy and lost the contract to run a tearoom at Lennoxlove, the seat of the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon. In 2005, Dickson Wright took part in the BBC reality television show ''Art School''. Dickson Wright was elected as Rector of the University of Aberdeen in November 1998, the university's first female rector. Her autobiography, ''Spilling the Beans'', was published in September 2007. In 2008, she presented a one-off documentary for

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

, ''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 North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

in March 2007 under a private prosecution lodged by the

International Fund for Animal Welfare International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

under the Hunting Act 2004. On 1 September 2009, she and Prescott pleaded guilty and received an absolute discharge at

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

Magistrates' 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. In October 2012, Dickson Wright appeared on ''Fieldsports Britain'' to discuss badgers and their nutritional value, saying: "There's going to be a cull, so rather than just throw them in the landfill site, why not eat them?" In November 2012, she presented a short BBC4 TV series on the history of the British breakfast, lunch and dinner. She was a supporter of the Conservative Party and lived in Inveresk,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. In her later years, Wright was known for her criticism and opposition to anti-hunting groups and

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

."Wright, Clarissa Dickson (1947–2014)"
oxforddnb.com. Retrieved 14 January 2023. She supported hare coursing and a diet of

red meat In gastronomy, red meat is commonly red when raw (and a dark color after it is cooked), in contrast to white meat, which is pale in color before (and after) cooking. In culinary terms, only flesh from mammals or fowl (not fish) is classified ...

, butter and cream.

Death

Dickson Wright died in the

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) was established in 1729, and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest voluntary hospital in the United Kingdom, and later on, the Empire."In Comi ...

on 15 March 2014, aged 66, from pneumonia relating to an undisclosed illness."TV chef Clarissa Dickson Wright dies"
''Guardian'', 17 March 2014"TV chef Clarissa Dickson Wright dies aged 66"
''The Scotsman'', 17 March 2014. Her funeral mass was held in Edinburgh at St Mary's Cathedral on 7 April, after which she was cremated.

Books

Cookery books: * ''The Haggis: A Short History'' (Appletree Press Ltd, 3 May 1996). * ''Two Fat Ladies: Gastronomic Adventures'' with

(

Ebury Publishing Ebury Publishing is a division of Penguin Random House, and is a publisher of general non-fiction books in the UK. Ebury was founded in 1961 as a division of Nat Mags and was originally located on Ebury Street in London. It was sold to Cent ...

, 3 October 1996) (Entitled ''Cooking with the Two Fat Ladies'' in the USA). * ''The Two Fat Ladies Ride Again'', with

(

, 4 September 1997). * ''The Two Fat Ladies Full Throttle'', with

(

, 27 August 1998). * ''Hieland Foodie: A Scottish Culinary Voyage with Clarissa'', with Henry Crichton-Stuart (Natl Museums of Scotland, 1 August 1999). * ''Living Large: A Life in Recipes'' (Scotland on Sunday, 1999) (48 pages). * ''Two Fat Ladies – Obsessions'', with

(

, 7 September 1999). * ''The Very Best of Two Fat Ladies: Over 150 Favourite Recipes from Their Best Selling Books'' (

, 2000). * ''Sunday Roast: The Complete Guide to Cooking and Carving'', with Sir John Scott, 5th Baronet ( Headline Publishing Group, 7 October 2002). * ''The Game Cookbook'', with Sir John Scott, 5th Baronet (Kyle Cathie, 12 August 2004). * ''Pre-Victorian English Cookery'' (Macmillan Trade Paperback, 5 March 2004). * ''Clarissa's Comfort Food'' (Kyle Cathie, 4 September 2008). * ''Potty! Clarissa's One Pot Cookbook'' (