Following the recent death of Jean Maestri – the proprietor of the Wanstead Park Tea Hut for over 30 years – the Maestri family reflect on the life of the Queen of Wanstead Park
Jean was born on 22 September 1944 in Dagenham. She was the youngest of three children. Her childhood memories were playing on the bomb sites and having games of rounders with her friends between four trees in the street. She went to school with Terry Venables (the famous footballer), who was a year above her. She left school at the age of 15 and surprised everyone by getting a job as a medical receptionist at the Royal London Hospital, where she worked for eight years until she had her first baby.
She met her husband Giovanni in a crowded Trafalgar Square on Bonfire Night back in 1960. He asked her if she had seen his cat. It was a chat-up line and she fell for it (and him). Jean and Giovanni were together for the rest of her life. They got married in 1965, and a year later bought the house they lived in ever since. Jean and Giovanni went on to have five children and fostered 60 others.
As her husband was Italian and worked in the ice cream trade, this inspired Jean to get an ice cream van with her friend and go back to work. In 1986, after many years of working in the ice cream van, Jean came across the old wooden boat house cafe in Wanstead Park. It was in a right old state and the cafe needed a lot of love and TLC, which is where Jean came in. She applied to the Corporation of London to get it rebuilt and their architect designed the building to match the Temple nearby.
Jean continued to run the Wanstead Park Tea Hut for 37 years. She loved this cafe and dedicated her life to it, working seven days a week. She became the life and soul of Wanstead Park and would have her regulars, who loved coming over to see her daily for a cup of tea and a chat. Jean loved baking and all her cakes were homemade. She was especially known for her homemade bread pudding, an old recipe handed down from her mum. People would get very upset if they turned up and it was sold out!
When the pandemic hit, Jean took a back seat, retired at home and bought herself a Pomeranian dog to keep her and her husband company. She loved her little dog, Fluffy, so very much and she became the apple of her eye. Jean was also very lucky to have 10 grandchildren, who all absolutely loved and adored her.
We would like to thank all of the customers, the people of Wanstead and the Corporation of London for all of the kind messages, love and support we have received. Jean died on 30 June 2023. She was a wonderful, kind and caring lady who will be sadly missed by all.
The Wanstead Park Tea Hut overlooks the Heronry Pond, near the park’s Wanstead Park Avenue entrance. For more information, visit wnstd.com/teahut