Lady Johanna, doyenne of Lydiard Park, collected recipes from doctors, family members and even her servants. A poultice for a Burne or Scald Blast Bite or St Antonys Fire (an inflammation of the skin) was recommended by her servant Susan Foot. The ingredients included:
'Pikked Ivie that runns upon the ground; a pound of hard Kidney mutton suit and a pennyworth of salad oyle'.
Grace Bennett's 1930s school exercise book is another rare survivor, if less famous, and provides an equally foreign glimpse but this time into the fairly recent past.
Grace was a pupil at Newbury Park Senior Girls School, Ilford and on August 26, 1932 she wrote her name on her new exercise book - Grace Bennett, Domestic Science Class II. Lesson 1 on that first day of the new academic year was Milk Puddings (Baking). Under the heading 'Rules for Order and Cleanliness' Grace wrote - Have a place for everything and put everything in its place.
Having listed the reasons for cooking food which included 'to preserve it' and 'to make it taste better' Grace received a 10 out of 10 mark and got off to a cracking start.
By November Grave had moved onto Laundrywork. In these days of easy care fabrics, automatic washing machines and tumble dryers, we forget what a performance the whole laundering thing was. Having washed and dried them on the clothes line came 'finishing the clothes.'
Damping
1. Sprinkle water over dry parts.
2. Fold straight & mangle in order to spread the dampness.
3. Leave for a time before ironing.
Throughout December Grace takes us through the pitfalls of making 'poor starch' and how to fold table linen. Moving on to marketing she advises us to 'pay for things when they are bought and then there will be no debts.'
It is February 1933 before she returns to cooking - Lesson 3 Grilling. After a brush with flaky pastry and the pros and cons of canned food (they are handy for picnics/there is the danger of getting cut when opening the tins) Grace moves onto Queen Cakes and costing joints of meat in common use.
In June Grace writes at length about Daily Work in the House, Cleaning Wood and Daily Care for the Sitting Room and to be honest, I'm exhausted just reading it. There's Washing Glass and Windows, Washing Mirrors and Glasses and we still have floor coverings and coconut matting to contend with.
Grace's years' work concludes on June 21, 1933 with Lesson 15 - Useful Hints for the Home - seriously, can there be anymore?
I wonder how Grace's life panned out. By 1939 The country was at war. Ilford was heavily bombed, hit by incendiary bombs and later in the war the feared VI and VII rockets.
Lady Johanna's 1680 book gives us a glimpse into a bygone age, while twelve year old Grace Bennett also takes us on a time travelling trip, be it less distant.
The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. L.P. Hartley.
Bombing in Ilford published courtesy of the Ilford Recorder
Lady Johanna St John's book
Grace Bennett's book
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