Friends of Hastings Cemetery
Alphonse Gouffe
Alphonse Gouffe GA E2
Head Pastry Chef to Queen Victoria
Alphonse Gouffe dies on 4th June 1907 in Hastings aged 94 and was buried in plot GA E2 on 10th June 1907.
He was the son of Louis Gouffe a French pastry chef living in Paris.
Alphonse was born in Paris in 1813 and was one of three brothers who, like their father, became chefs. His brother Hippolyte was chef to Count Andre SchouvallofT in Russia whilst brother Jules was chef de cuisine of the Paris Jockey Club. Jules wrote a classic cookery book called Livre de Cuisine which was adapted and translated into English by Alphonse under the title The Royal Cookery Book.
Alphonse married Charlotte Nicholles Poupon in Paris on 8th September 1938 and subsequently moved to England.
There is no trace of Alphonse on the 1841 census but his wife Charlotte aged 28 is shown as living at 5 Trellick Terrace, Belgravia with her daughter Leone aged 10 months. Charlotte is living by independent means.
The 1851 census shows Alphonse aged 37 as a married pastry cook living at Buckingham Palace. Charlotte, who is also shown as having been born in Paris, is living at 13 Military Kings Row, Windsor. She is shown as wife of servant in the Royal Household. Living with her are daughter Leone aged 10, and son Alphonse Alexander aged 6. Leone is shown having been born in London whilst Alphonse junior was born at Windsor. Charlotte died in 1856 leaving Alphonse with a young family.
In 1861 the census shows Alphonse, now aged 48, a widower, is a ‘cook of kitchen’ at Osborne Palace on the Isle of Wight. There is no sign of the children on the English census so perhaps they returned to their relatives in France for a while.
By the 1871 census Alphonse, now aged 57, is a pastry cook at Windsor Castle. His children Leone and Alphonse Alexander now aged 30 and 26 respectively, are living at 21 Vincent Square, Westminster, in the home of a John and Annie Davis. They are shown on the census as daughter and son of the Davis’s. John is a tailor by trade. Leone is not working but Alphonse Alexander is shown as a ship broker’s clerk. In 1873 Alphonse junior marries Eliza Sophia Cullen who was born in Windsor in 1839.