Carl Friedrich Jungbluth
Carl Friedrich Jungbluth (1820-1895) was born on 2nd October 1820 in Arolsen, a town in the northern part of the German county of Hesse. His father, Friedrich Jungbluth, was a hotel keeper. It has not been possible to determine exactly why Jungbluth ended up in England, nor how he came to be appointed to the Royal Household. However, it is possible that his parents moved to England when he was still a child, because his sister Caroline also lived in London and got married in the same church in Hoxton, East London, on the same day in 1850 as Carl Friedrich.
In any case, Jungbluth began his employment as Third Master Chef in the Royal Household with a yearly salary of £135 in 1847. Three years later, on 26th October 1850, he married Mary Elizabeth Schleiermacher (1833-1899). She came from West Hackney, north-east London, and was the daughter of the wool merchant Carl Christian Schleiermacher. Her father had also moved from Germany to England and there married Rachel Kipling. Their daughter Mary was baptised on 7th February 1833, so probably born about a month earlier. On the marriage certificate Jungbluth claimed to be a “gentleman” with Hoxton as his residence. So far it has not been possible to find out why he registered himself as such.
In the English census taken on 30th March 1851, Carl Friedrich and Mary Elizabeth were listed as C.F. Jungbluth, 30, and Eliza Jungbluth, 18. The census confirmed that Carl Friedrich worked in the Royal Household and that he was born in Arolsen, but he was now a British subject. Their first son Frederick Richard Julius Louis Jungbluth was born in the fourth quarter of 1851 and registered for birth in the parish of Saint George Hanover Square in Westminster. In the first quarter of 1854 the birth of their second son, Victor Christian Artur (1854-1899), was registered in the same parish. In April 1856 Alexander Irwin was born, followed by Walter Julius William George in 1858. In 1871, the two youngest sons, Alexander, 14 years old, and Walter, 12 years old, were living with their parents in 71 Winchester Street, Hanover Square, London.
Papers from the Royal Household testify that Carl Friedrich Jungbluth was Third Master Cook to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert from 1847 to 1859. He was promoted to Second Master Cook in November 1859. His salary increased by £10 a year to £145. Ten years later, in May 1869, the previously First Master Cook was promoted to Chief Cook. This paved the way for Jungbluth to become First Master Cook. On 1st June 1869 his new position came into effect, now with an annual salary of £220.
In 1883 Carl Friedrich Jungbluth received the “Faithful Service Medal” for his services to the Royal Household over 36 years. It can be assumed that he dedicated his entire career to the Royal family and cooked for Queen Victoria and her family until he retired. It is not known exactly when he retired, but in the 1891 census, Carl Friedrich Jungbluth was listed as a 70 years old retired cook at 83 Broomwood Road, Battersea, Wandsworth Common. His wife Eliza was then 58. They had the 31-year-old servant Frances Huggins living with them. Four years later, after a prolonged illness, Carl Friedrich died in Battersea on 12th August 1895. He was buried at Norwood Cemetery in South London on 17th August. Eliza continued to live in Broomwood Road in Wandsworth, where she died on 5th April 1899.
