title page of The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine, September 1861

Isabella Mary Beeton (née Mayson; 12 March 1836 – 6 February 1865), universally known as Mrs Beeton, was the principal author of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management and is the most famous cookery writer in British history. Mrs Beeton at 26 This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 402 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (429 × 640 pixel, file size: 140 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Mrs Beeton ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 402 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (429 × 640 pixel, file size: 140 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Mrs Beeton ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... March 12 is the 71st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (72nd in leap years). ... Year 1836 (MDCCCXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... February 6 is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1865 (MDCCCLXV) is a common year starting on Sunday. ... Published in 1861, Mrs Beetons Book of Household Management was a guide to all aspects of running a household in Victorian Britain. ... Cooking is the act of preparing food for consumption. ... The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ...

Background

Isabella was born at 24 Milk Street, Cheapside, London. Her father, Benjamin Mayson, died when she was young. and her mother, Elizabeth Jerram, married again, to Henry Dorling. Isabella was sent to school in Heidelberg,Germany, where she became an accomplished pianist. Afterwards she returned to her stepfather's home in Epsom. A view of Cheapside published in 1837. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Heidelberg and the other cities of the Neckar valley The castle (Schloss) above the town Main Street (Hauptstrasse) Shopping district View from the so called alley of philosophers (Philosophenweg) towards the Old Town, with Heidelberg Castle, Heiliggeist Church and the Old Bridge Heidelberg is a city in Baden-Württemberg... Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, to the south of Greater London. ...

Marriage and career

On a visit to London, she was introduced to Samuel Orchard Beeton, a publisher of books and popular magazines, whom she married on 10 July 1856. She began to write articles on cooking and household management for her husband's publications. In 1859–1861, she wrote a monthly supplement to The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine. In October 1861, the supplements were published as a single volume, The Book of Household Management Comprising information for the Mistress, Housekeeper, Cook, Kitchen-Maid, Butler, Footman, Coachman, Valet, Upper and Under House-Maids, Lady’s-Maid, Maid-of-all-Work, Laundry-Maid, Nurse and Nurse-Maid, Monthly Wet and Sick Nurses, etc. etc.—also Sanitary, Medical, & Legal Memoranda: with a History of the Origin, Properties, and Uses of all Things Connected with Home Life and Comfort. July 10 is the 191st day (192nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 174 days remaining. ... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... A housekeeper is an individual responsible for the cleaning and maintenance of the interior of a residence. ... A cook is a person that prepares food for consumption. ... A kitchen maid is a junior female servant in a great house ranking below a cook and above a scullery maid. ... // For other uses see Butler (disambiguation) The butler is a senior servant in a large household . ... A footman is a male household servant. ... This article discusses transportation vehicles. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A ladys maid is a female personal attendant who waits on the lady of the house. ... Italian street, with laundry hung to dry Laundry can be: items of clothing and other textiles that require washing, the act of washing clothing and textiles, the room of a house in which this is done. ... This article focuses on the education and regulation of nurses. ... A nursery maid is a female servant in an elite household. ... A wet nurse is a woman who nurses a baby not her own. ...

Book of Household Management

Popularly known as Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, it was essentially a guide to running a Victorian household, with advice on fashion, childcare, animal husbandry, poisons, the management of servants, science, religion, and industrialism. Queen Victoria (shown here on the morning of her Ascension to the Throne, 20 June 1837) gave her name to the historic era The Victorian era of the United Kingdom marked the height of the British industrial revolution and the apex of the British Empire. ... Fashion illustration by George Barbier of a gown by Jeanne Paquin, 1912, from La Gazette du bon ton, the most influential fashion magazine of its era. ... Childcare (also written child care[1] and babycare) is the act of caring for and supervising minor children. ... In a draw in a mountainous region, a shepherd guides a flock of about 20 sheep amidst scrub and olive trees. ... The skull and crossbones symbol (Jolly Roger) traditionally used to label a poisonous substance. ... It has been suggested that servant (domestic) be merged into this article or section. ... Part of a scientific laboratory at the University of Cologne. ...

Anna Madeley (right) in BBC TV's The Secret Life of Mrs Beeton (Radio Times, 14-20 October 2006)

Of the 1,112 pages over 900 contained recipes, such that another popular name for the volume is Mrs Beeton's Cookbook. Most of the recipes were illustrated with coloured engravings, and it was the first book to show recipes in a format that is still used today. It is said that many of the recipes were actually plagiarised from earlier writers (including Eliza Acton), but the Beetons never claimed that the book's contents were original. It was intended as a guide of reliable information for the aspirant middle classes. Mrs Beeton is perhaps described better as its compiler and editor than as its author, many of the passages clearly being not her own words. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 553 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (612 × 664 pixel, file size: 106 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Publicity photo (2006) for BBC drama, The Secret Life of Mrs Beeton (from radio Times, 14-20 October 2006) This image is a screenshot of a... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 553 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (612 × 664 pixel, file size: 106 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Publicity photo (2006) for BBC drama, The Secret Life of Mrs Beeton (from radio Times, 14-20 October 2006) This image is a screenshot of a... Madeley (right) being dressed for the title role in The Secret Life of Mrs Beeton (BBC TV, 2006): Radio Times, 14-20 October 2006 Anna Madeley (born in 1977) is a British actor. ... An example recipe, printed from the Wikibooks Cookbook. ... Elizabeth Eliza Acton (April 17, 1799-February 13, 1859) was an English cook who produced one of the countrys first cookbooks aimed at the domestic reader, Modern Cookery for Private Families. ...

Early death

After giving birth to her fourth child, in January 1865, Isabella contracted puerperal fever. She died a week later, aged 28. She is buried at West Norwood Cemetery under a simple headstone. Puerperal fever (from the latin puer, child), also called childbed fever or puerperal sepsis, is a serious form of septicemia contracted by a woman during or shortly after childbirth or abortion. ... West Norwood Cemetery is a cemetery in West Norwood, Lambeth, London. ... Headstones in the Japanese Cemetry in Broome, Western Australia A cemetery in rural Spain A typical late 20th century headstone in the United States A headstone, tombstone or gravestone is a marker, normally carved from stone, placed over or next to the site of a burial. ...

Secret Life (2006)

In 2006 BBC television broadcast a biographical drama, The Secret Life of Mrs Beeton [1], with Anna Madeley in the title role. This tended to emphasise Mrs Beeton's feminist credentials, as well as playing on the assumption that many viewers would have been unaware of her relative youth when she wrote her books and her early death. The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion (US$7. ... Madeley (right) being dressed for the title role in The Secret Life of Mrs Beeton (BBC TV, 2006): Radio Times, 14-20 October 2006 Anna Madeley (born in 1977) is a British actor. ... Feminism is a social theory and political movement primarily informed and motivated by the experience of women. ...

The TV drama seemed to present as fact the speculation (put forth in Kathryn Hughes' biography) that Beeton suffered from syphilis contracted from her husband, and that this may have led to her death and those of her two children, although there is no firm evidence for this idea. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

Gallery

Fashion plate from The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine, 1869 Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (700x1000, 129 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Mrs Beeton 1860s in fashion ...

Cover of Book of Household Management Image File history File links Size of this preview: 376 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (630 × 1003 pixel, file size: 187 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Mrs Beeton Mrs Beetons Book...

First chapter of Book of Household Management Image File history File links Size of this preview: 376 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (630 × 1005 pixel, file size: 190 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Mrs Beeton ...

Illustration from Book of Household Management Image File history File links Size of this preview: 353 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (449 × 762 pixel, file size: 97 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Trifle Mrs Beeton Pudding ...

Bibliography

• Kathryn Hughes, The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs Beeton, ISBN 1-84115-374-5

External links

• Online edition of Household Management
• Works by Mrs Beeton at Project Gutenberg
• Guardian article on "plagiarism"
• BBC4 programme entitled 'The Secret Life of Mrs Beeton'

Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works. ...