Louisa Hedges and the family shop in Gray’s Inn Road

SHE “loved dining at the Ritz and holidaying in Greece”, but those in King’s Cross will remember Louisa Hedges for being at the helm of her family butchers for decades.

Butcheress and former hat maker Mrs Hedges, 94, passed away in December after decades of selling meat and poultry to the community.

She also found time to knit clothes for her 47 grand- and great- grandchildren.

Her daughter, Angela Deller, said: “She loved her family and always ensured her grandchildren got cards and money whether she saw them or not. She was just the best mum really.” Mrs Hedges was born in King’s Cross in 1928 and was an evacuee sent to Suffolk during the war.

Returning to London when she was 13, she worked as a milliner, fastening feathers to hats.  She soon met her husband of 65 years, Sid, who lived in an adjoining street in King’s Cross. When she was 18, they married at the St Pancras Church in Euston Road on Christmas Day, 1946, and stayed together in a loving partnership until his death in 2011.

Mrs Hedges and her husband ran a butchers’ shop in King’s Cross Road opposite the former Clerkenwell Magistrates’ Court, which is now a hostel. In their home above the butchers they raised four children: Charlie, who later became a Camden councillor; Jennie; Janette and Angela.

The family later opened another shop in Gray’s Inn Road. Ms Deller, who was her youngest daughter, recalled it being a “happy” family home where the children were always loved and cared for, despite her parents being so hardworking. Her mother and father ensured the most vulnerable people in the community always had something to eat.

“If people didn’t have money to pay for the meat it wasn’t a problem. They just used to write it down and say ‘come back next week’,” Ms Deller told the New Journal. “She was a very tough, hard-working woman,” she added.

When she was 46, Mrs Hedges moved to Burmash, Kentish Town, where she lived until her death, caring for her husband when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and more recently for her two cats, Smudge and Mittens.

She would go out every day and stay active, meeting friends for lunch at Kent Cafe in Kentish Town Road or Spring Taste in Malden Road.

Ms Deller said: “She loved life. She loved going out. She loved socialising. She loved eating in the best restaurants because she used to do that with my dad.

“Being business people, they were always out and about. They were very respected in the area as business people and were always helping people. She loved going to Rhodes with me and my family every year right up until last May.

“I took her to the Ritz for her 90th birthday. We were often at different Hiltons for afternoon teas. The Hilton in Park Lane was her favourite for afternoon tea.”

Friends, family and former employees turned out in the masses to say goodbye to Mrs Hedges on January 16.

A wake was held for her at Tapping The Admiral in Castle Road. As a boss, Mrs Hedges had been “kind, caring and supportive of all the people that worked with her”, her daughter said, and an employee who used to work for her when he was 15 attended the memorial service.