Lady Johanna St John's 1680 book of pills, potions and plasters is a rare survivor of the type of manual every well to do 17th century woman compiled. A collection of recipes recorded for their efficiency, part of her housekeeping arsenal against the myriad of marauding illnesses. The book is held at the Wellcome Library and is available to view online. 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 ...