Jane Hasell-McCosh

Jane Hasell-McCosh, the founder of the World Marmalade Awards, is the daughter of Rt. Rev. Henry David Halsey the Bishop of Carlisle. Jane’s husband's ancestor Elizabeth Rainbow made some of the earliest recorded marmalade at the Bishop's palace, outside Carlisle in the 1660s. When Bishop Rainbow died she moved down to live with her nephew at Dalemain bringing her recipe books with her, and these have been passed down through the centuries. Jane is respected around the world as one of the leading authorities in marmalade making

In November 2020, Profile will publish MARMALADE: A Memoir; a rollicking marmalade history and trivia compendium interwoven with the story of Jane Hasell-McCosh and The World’s Original Marmalade Awards.

There’s a passion for marmalade making that’s inspiring home cooks around the world, convinced that this curious bittersweet preserve is the balm for all that’s wrong with our fast food world. All the credit for this marmalade rebellion can be traced to the roaring success that is The World Marmalade Awards…

Jane Hasell-McCosh was a young bride when she moved after her marriage into Dalemain Mansion, a draughty, haunted 18th century stately home outside Penrith. As the new daughter-in-law, she was told that the house was the family business, and that the family’s job was to save it. She was put in charge of the tea rooms. To this day, she maintains that her aim in starting the Marmalade Festival was to “bring people to my tea rooms in February”.

Fourteen years on, for the 2019 festival, over 3000 entries arrived from over 40 countries by hook, crook and by Virgin Trains’s Marmalade Express. Prince Charles is a keen supporter, and the festival became a ‘marmalade dropper’ in its own right, when it was featured in a Matt cartoon in the Daily Telegraph in 2012. This year a Japanese Marmalade Festival will launch in Japan. An Australian festival has been under way for several years.

This memoir is a delicious, funny read, and a heartening tale with an endearing heroine, Jane, and her house, at its heart.