Isabella Beeton is best known for her first and only publication, Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management. The book was a ‘How To’ guide to running the perfect Victorian household, and since it’s first publication in 1865, has been re-edited and released 24 times; in fact, it is still available in print today, a testament to Mrs Beeton’s huge success.

 

The book features over 900 recipes, offering cooking and hosting advice, amongst other topics such as fashion, child-care, animal welfare and religion.  Think the back pages of today’s girly glossies, where many seek advice on finance, sex and dieting… Isabella covered it all, Victorian style, in just over 1,000 pages.

 

The book was a huge success, and our girl was seen somewhat as the ideal Victorian matriarch, with her tips on how to run a household not only efficiently, but to an excellent standard. However, this was not at all the case, as she was in her early 20’s when she wrote the book, and died at the young age of 28.

 

Born in Cheapside, London, she was educated in Germany, where she became an accomplished pianist. She was the eldest of 22 siblings, yes, that’s right, 21 younger brothers and sisters to take care of – almost certainly where she learnt her skills as a mother. She married a dashing publisher named Sam Beeton and made the transition from babysitter to Mistress of the Household, using her skills and knowledge to write articles for his magazine. After the death of their first Child, Sam suggested she become a cookery writer and the original Household Management was cooked up.

 

The book was not without it’s controversy; it was common knowledge that her own cookery writing was very poor; so inept that in her first recipe for Victoria Sponge, Isabella forgot the eggs. Much of the ideas and recipes printed in the book were actually plagiarised from previous authors, and had she been 150 years into the future, Mrs Beeton would probably be taking a beating from numerous copyright lawyers. However, Isabella never actually claimed the ideas were hers, and she was praised for her innovative way of laying out recipes, including placing a set ingredients list at the top, and stating clear cooking times; the type of cookery writing format which is still used today.

 

Unfortunately for Isabella, she did not live to see her success. After her early death, related to infection from the birth of her fourth child, her husband and publishers recognized the need to keep the ‘Mrs Beeton brand’ alive. They even went so far as to pretend she was still alive as they produced updated versions of Household Management. Had she still been around, her tips on how to deal with a disrespectful, exploitative and out-of-order husband would have surely made for some fantastic reading!