Elizabeth Moxon on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Elizabeth Moxon ( fl. 1740–1754) was an English writer known for her influential cookery book: ''English Housewifry''. She has been called one of "the female pioneers of English culinary writing".
Her book was presented as practical help for "Mistresses of Families, higher and lower Women servants" based on Moxon's thirty years of "practice and experience". Along with the numerous recipes for "soops, made-dishes, pastes, pickles, cakes, creams, jellies, made-wines, &c" she offered month-by-month menu plans for lunch, supper etc. with diagrams and instructions on how to set out a variety of dishes on the table, in the style of the 18th century.
''English Housewifry'' was published in
Forgotten Women of Wakefield project
and will be hung at her former home on Finkle Street.
Sara Pennell
‘Moxon, Elizabeth (fl. 1740–1754)’, ''
1764 edition of ''English Housewifry''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moxon, Elizabeth 18th-century British women writers English women writers Women cookbook writers 18th-century English writers Year of birth unknown Place of birth unknown Year of death unknown 18th-century English women 18th-century English people
Her book was presented as practical help for "Mistresses of Families, higher and lower Women servants" based on Moxon's thirty years of "practice and experience". Along with the numerous recipes for "soops, made-dishes, pastes, pickles, cakes, creams, jellies, made-wines, &c" she offered month-by-month menu plans for lunch, supper etc. with diagrams and instructions on how to set out a variety of dishes on the table, in the style of the 18th century.
''English Housewifry'' was published in Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
in 1741 by James Lister, owner of the ''Leeds Mercury
The ''Leeds Mercury'' was a newspaper published in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was published from 1718 to 1755 and again from 1767. Initially it consisted of 12 pages and cost three halfpennies. In 1794 it had a circulation of about 3,00 ...
'' newspaper. It sold well, and from the second edition in 1743 it was marketed in London as well as Yorkshire, and was probably the first cookery book with provincial origins to make the move to the capital.S. M. Pennell, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' In 1758 the eighth edition appeared, with extra recipes collected from "gentlewomen in the neighbourhood". By this time it is believed the rights belonged to Griffith Wright whose family went on reprinting the book until 1790. A sixteenth edition was printed in London in 1808.
Customers of earlier editions were told they could buy their copy from the author in Pontefract
Pontefract is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wak ...
. Her residence there in the 1740s and her long experience of housewifery are almost all that is known about Moxon's life.
Selected works
* Elizabeth Moxon, ''English housewifry. Exemplified in above four hundred receits, never before printed; giving directions in most parts of cookery; and how to prepare various sorts of soops, made-dishes, pasts, pickles, cakes, creams, jellies, made-wines, &c. With sculptures for the orderly placing the dishes, and courses; and also bills of fare, for every month in the year....'' Leeds: printed by J. Lister, and sold by J. Swale, J. Ogle, and S. Howgate, at Leeds; J. Lord at Wakefield; and the author at Pontefract, c1741 * Elizabeth Moxon, ''English housewifery: Exemplified in above four hundred and fifty receipts, giving directions in most parts of cookery ... With elegant cuts for the orderly placing the dishes and courses; also bills of fare for every month in the year; and an alphabetical index to the whole ... With an appendix, containing upwards of eighty receipts, of the most valuable kind. To this edition is now added, an introduction, giving an account of the times when river fish are in season; and a table, shewing at one view the proper seasons for sea fish.'' London: printed for J. Brambles, A. Meggitt and J. Waters by H. Mozley, 1808.Legacy
A blue plaque for Elizabeth Moxon was unveiled atPontefract Town Hall
Pontefract Town Hall is a town hall in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. It was completed in 1882. It is now owned and used by Wakefield Council as a registry office. The building has been Grade II listed since 15 November 1988.
History
...
in 2019 as part of thForgotten Women of Wakefield project
and will be hung at her former home on Finkle Street.
References
* S. M. PennellSara Pennell
‘Moxon, Elizabeth (fl. 1740–1754)’, ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', Oxford University Press, 2004
External links
1764 edition of ''English Housewifry''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moxon, Elizabeth 18th-century British women writers English women writers Women cookbook writers 18th-century English writers Year of birth unknown Place of birth unknown Year of death unknown 18th-century English women 18th-century English people