Georgiana Hill (cookery book writer)

{{Use British English|date=May 2020}}

{{Use British English|date=May 2020}}

[[File:How to Cook Game (1867) Title page.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Cover page, showing the series title "Household Manuals", the cost "6d", the title and author "How to Cook Game in a Hundred Different Ways by Georgina Hill" and a picture of a game bird|The cover page of Hill's 1867 work ''How to Cook Game'']]

[[File:How to Cook Game (1867) Title page.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Cover page, showing the series title "Household Manuals", the cost "6d", the title and author "How to Cook Game in a Hundred Different Ways by Georgina Hill" and a picture of a game bird|The cover page of Hill's 1867 work ''How to Cook Game'']]

'''Georgina Hill''' (14 July 1825 – 22 July 1903) was an English cookery book writer who wrote at least twenty-three works. She was born in [[Kingsdown, Bristol]] before moving to [[Tadley]], [[Hampshire]] in the 1850s. She wrote her first [[cookery book]], ''The Gourmet's Guide to Rabbit Cooking'' there in 1859. Within a year she was writing for the [[Routledge]] Household Manuals series of books; her final work was published in 1870. She produced several works that specialised on an ingredient, type of food, method of cooking or meal. Her books appear to have sold well, and were advertised in India and the US. Her recipes assume a prior knowledge of cookery. Her complete canon of work has been favourably compared with the compendium-style cookery books that were produced in Victorian England, particularly [[Isabella Beeton]]'s 1861 work ''[[Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management|Book of Household Management]]''.

'''Georgina Hill''' (14 July 1825 – 22 July 1903) was an English cookery book writer who wrote at least twenty-three works. She was born in [[Kingsdown, Bristol]] before moving to [[Tadley]], [[Hampshire]] in the 1850s. She wrote her first [[cookery book]], ''The Gourmet's Guide to Rabbit Cooking'' there in 1859. Within a year she was writing for the [[Routledge]] Household Manuals series of books; her final work was published in 1870. She produced several works that specialised in an ingredient, type of food, method of cooking or meal. Her books appear to have sold well, and were advertised in India and the US. Her recipes assume a prior knowledge of cookery. Her complete canon of work has been favourably compared with the compendium-style cookery books that were produced in Victorian England, particularly [[Isabella Beeton]]'s 1861 work ''[[Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management|A Book of Household Management]]''.

Her 1862 work ''Everybody's Pudding Book'' was republished as ''A Year of Victorian Puddings'' in 2012. For much of the twentieth century Hill's identity and work was conflated with that of her namesake, [[Georgiana Hill]], the social historian, journalist and women's rights activist.

Her 1862 work ''Everybody's Pudding Book'' was republished as ''A Year of Victorian Puddings'' in 2012. For much of the twentieth century Hill's identity and work were mistakenly conflated with those of her namesake, [[Georgiana Hill]], the social historian, journalist and women's rights activist.

==Life==

==Life==

[[File:The Breakfast Book (1865) Title page.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Title page showing the title "The Breakfast Book: A cookery book for the morning meal"|The title page of Hill's 1865 work ''The Breakfast Book'']]

[[File:The Breakfast Book (1865) Title page.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Title page showing the title "The Breakfast Book: A cookery book for the morning meal"|The title page of Hill's 1865 work ''The Breakfast Book'']]

Georgina Hill was born on 14 July 1825 in [[Kingsdown, Bristol]]; her father was George Hill, a [[civil engineer]] and her mother was Sophia Pitson, (''{{nee}}'' Edgar). She was the couple's second daughter. Little is known about Hill's early life, although in 1841 the family were living in [[Weston-super-Mare]], [[Somerset]]. Her mother died in the 1840s. In 1851 Hill was living in [[Exmouth]], [[Devon]], and teaching languages; her sister, Sophie, also lived in the town, and taught singing. Hill's father died in the 1850s and at some point that decade both sisters moved to Browning Hill, near [[Tadley]], [[Hampshire]]. They never married.{{sfn|Rich|2014}}{{sfn|Rich|2020|p=416}}

Georgina Hill was born on 14 July 1825 in [[Kingsdown, Bristol]]; her father was George Hill, a [[civil engineer]] and her mother was Sophia Pitson, (''{{nee}}'' Edgar). She was the couple's second daughter. Little is known about Hill's early life, although in 1841 the family were living in [[Weston-super-Mare]], [[Somerset]]. Her mother died in the 1840s. In 1851 Hill was living in [[Exmouth]], [[Devon]], and teaching languages; her sister, Sophie, also lived in the town, and taught singing. Hill's father died in the 1850s and at some point in that decade both sisters moved to Browning Hill, near [[Tadley]], [[Hampshire]]. They both remained unmarried.{{sfn|Rich|2014}}{{sfn|Rich|2020|p=416}}

Rachel Rich, Hill's biographer, considers it a possibility that Hill may have worked as a [[Housekeeper (domestic worker)|housekeeper]] at the [[rectory]] in [[Baughurst]], which is near Browning Hill. Several of Hill's recipes refer to the rectory, and one of her contracts with the publishers [[Routledge]] was witnessed by David Williams, the rector of Baughurst, which suggests she may have worked there.{{sfn|Rich|2020|p=417}}{{efn|Hill provides the name of the recipe for "{{lang|fr|Lapereau Enragé}} as at Baughurst Rectory" as one example.{{sfn|Rich|2020|p=417}}{{sfn|Hill|1859|p=50}}}} In 1859 Hill wrote her first cookery book, ''The Gourmet's Guide to Rabbit Cooking'', which was published under the pseudonym "An Old Epicure"; her final work was in 1870.{{sfn|Rich|2014}}{{sfn|Rich|2020|p=417}}

Rachel Rich, Hill's biographer, considers it a possibility that Hill may have worked as a [[Housekeeper (domestic worker)|housekeeper]] at the [[rectory]] in [[Baughurst]], which is near Browning Hill. Several of Hill's recipes refer to the rectory, and one of her contracts with the publishers [[Routledge]] was witnessed by David Williams, the rector of Baughurst, which suggests she may have worked there.{{sfn|Rich|2020|p=417}}{{efn|Hill provides the name of the recipe for "{{lang|fr|Lapereau Enragé}} as at Baughurst Rectory" as one example.{{sfn|Rich|2020|p=417}}{{sfn|Hill|1859|p=50}}}} In 1859 Hill wrote her first cookery book, ''The Gourmet's Guide to Rabbit Cooking'', which was published under the pseudonym "An Old Epicure"; her final work was in 1870.{{sfn|Rich|2014}}{{sfn|Rich|2020|p=417}}

[[File:Foreign Desserts for English Tables (1862) - title page.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Title page showing the title "Foreign Desserts for English Tables"|The title page of Hill's 1862 work ''Foreign Desserts for English Tables'']]

[[File:Foreign Desserts for English Tables (1862) - title page.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Title page showing the title "Foreign Desserts for English Tables"|The title page of Hill's 1862 work ''Foreign Desserts for English Tables'']]

Hill wrote extensively for Household Manuals series, producing a series of works that specialised on an ingredient, such as apples, potatoes, fish, game, vegetables or onions; type of food, such as cakes, salads, soups and sweet and savoury puddings; method of cooking, including stew, hash, curry, pickles and preserves; or whole meals, such as breakfast.{{sfn|Rich|2014}}{{sfn|Freeman|1989|p=168}} After she stayed at the house of an old lady who had apple puddings for six months of the year, then changed to gooseberry desserts for the other half of the year, Hill wrote ''Everybody's Pudding Book'' in 1862.{{sfn|Freeman|1989|pp=193–195}}{{sfn|Hill|1887|pp=17–18}} She structured the work into monthly sections rather than type or style of the dish. Each chapter provides information about the month in question, and the best dishes to prepare with the seasonal produce;{{sfn|Rich|2015|p=106}} for example, in the chapter for April she writes "Spring is coming to us once again; already the verdant fields rejoice our sight, and enrich the quality of the milk, cream and butter which lend perfection to those puddings that we presently enjoy".{{sfn|Hill|1863|p=63}}

Hill wrote extensively for the Household Manuals series, producing a series of works that specialised in an ingredient, such as apples, potatoes, fish, game, vegetables or onions; type of food, such as cakes, salads, soups and sweet and savoury puddings; method of cooking, including stew, hash, curry, pickles and preserves; or whole meals, such as breakfast.{{sfn|Rich|2014}}{{sfn|Freeman|1989|p=168}} After she stayed at the house of an old lady who had apple puddings for six months of the year, and then changed to gooseberry desserts for the other half of the year, Hill wrote ''Everybody's Pudding Book'' in 1862.{{sfn|Freeman|1989|pp=193–195}}{{sfn|Hill|1887|pp=17–18}} She structured the work into monthly sections rather than type or style of the dish. Each chapter provides information about the month in question, and the best dishes to prepare with the seasonal produce;{{sfn|Rich|2015|p=106}} for example, in the chapter for April she writes "Spring is coming to us once again; already the verdant fields rejoice our sight, and enrich the quality of the milk, cream and butter which lend perfection to those puddings that we presently enjoy".{{sfn|Hill|1863|p=63}}

According to Rich, Hill's books appear to have sold well, and were advertised for sale in the US and India;{{sfn|Braithwaite|2014}} in 1869 an American publication comprising four of her works was published under the name ''How to Cook Potatoes, Apples, Eggs and Fish. Four Hundred Different Ways''.{{sfn|Rich|2014}} Many of Hill's works show the influence of European cuisines on the English repertoire; recipes for French, Spanish and Italian dishes are included. Although it is not known if she travelled to gain the experience of the dishes, or read widely, in the 1863 work ''Everybody's Pudding Book'',{{sfn|Rich|2014}} Hill relates that "I first tasted this dish in Tuscany on the 27th April, 1850, and I have commemorated the event by having a like pudding annually on that day ever since".{{sfn|Hill|1887|p=72}} Rich notes that the books show the hand of an educated and erudite writer who understood French and Italian, could write about the apple in [[classical mythology]] and also about modern manners.{{sfn|Rich|2014}} For the 1865 work, ''The Breakfast Book'', Hill included sample menus at the end, divided by the season. The book was described in ''The Cheltenham Journal and Gloucestershire Gazette'' as "a pretty extensive collection of receipts for the preparing of the many luxuries of the table which either fastidious or plain people regard as necessary to the proper enjoyment of the morning meal".{{sfn|"Literary Notices". ''Cheltenham Journal and Gloucestershire Gazette''}}

According to Rich, Hill's books appear to have sold well, and were advertised for sale in the US and India;{{sfn|Braithwaite|2014}} in 1869 an American publication comprising four of her works was published under the name ''How to Cook Potatoes, Apples, Eggs and Fish. Four Hundred Different Ways''.{{sfn|Rich|2014}} Many of Hill's works show the influence of European cuisines on the English repertoire; recipes for French, Spanish and Italian dishes are included. Although it is not known if she travelled to gain the experience of the dishes, or read widely, in the 1863 work ''Everybody's Pudding Book'',{{sfn|Rich|2014}} Hill relates that "I first tasted this dish in Tuscany on the 27th April, 1850, and I have commemorated the event by having a like pudding annually on that day ever since".{{sfn|Hill|1887|p=72}} Rich notes that the books show the hand of an educated and erudite writer who understood French and Italian, could write about the apple in [[classical mythology]] and also about modern manners.{{sfn|Rich|2014}} For the 1865 work, ''The Breakfast Book'', Hill included sample menus at the end, divided by the season. The book was described in ''The Cheltenham Journal and Gloucestershire Gazette'' as "a pretty extensive collection of receipts for the preparing of the many luxuries of the table which either fastidious or plain people regard as necessary to the proper enjoyment of the morning meal".{{sfn|"Literary Notices". ''Cheltenham Journal and Gloucestershire Gazette''}}

==Identity and legacy ==

==Identity and legacy ==

[[File:Everybody's Pudding Book (1863) - title page.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|alt=Cover page of Everybody's Pudding Book showing the title, a pair of crossed spoon and fork and a large jelly mould|Cover of ''Everybody's Pudding Book'' (1863)]]

[[File:Everybody's Pudding Book (1863) - title page.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|alt=Cover page of Everybody's Pudding Book showing the title, a pair of crossed spoon and fork and a large jelly mould|Cover of ''Everybody's Pudding Book'' (1863)]]

For much of the twentieth century Hill's identity and work was conflated with that of her namesake, [[Georgiana Hill]], the social historian, journalist and women's rights activist:{{sfn|Rich|2014}} the historian [[Joan Thirsk]], in her introduction to ''Women in English Society, 1500–1800'' (1985) discusses the social historian as having "extraordinary success as an author [that] started with her cookery books which sold cheaply ... and in very large numbers".{{sfn|Thirsk|1985|p=xvi}} Freeman, in her history of British food ''Mutton and Oysters'', describes how Hill "desisted from writing for twenty years; then in the '90s, she published a history of fashion".{{sfn|Freeman|1989|p=169}} In some cases Hill's name was confused with her place of residence, and she is named Browning Hill.{{sfn|Rich|2014}} In 2012 Mark Curthoys, the commissioning editor at the ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' undertook research that showed that the cookery book writer was a different person to the historian of the same name. He asked the historian Rachel Rich to write the biography for Georgiana Hill (the cookery book writer) for inclusion in the ''Dictionary of National Biography'', which was then published in 2014.{{sfn|Rich|2020|p=409}}{{sfn|Braithwaite|2014}}

For much of the twentieth century Hill's identity and work were mistakenly conflated with those of her namesake, [[Georgiana Hill]], the social historian, journalist and women's rights activist:{{sfn|Rich|2014}} the historian [[Joan Thirsk]], in her introduction to ''Women in English Society, 1500–1800'' (1985) discusses the social historian as having "extraordinary success as an author [that] started with her cookery books which sold cheaply ... and in very large numbers".{{sfn|Thirsk|1985|p=xvi}} Freeman, in her history of British food ''Mutton and Oysters'', describes how Hill "desisted from writing for twenty years; then in the '90s, she published a history of fashion".{{sfn|Freeman|1989|p=169}} In some cases Hill's name was confused with her place of residence, and she is named Browning Hill.{{sfn|Rich|2014}} In 2012 Mark Curthoys, the commissioning editor at the ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' undertook research that showed that the cookery book writer was a different person to the historian of the same name. He asked the historian Rachel Rich to write the biography for Georgiana Hill (the cookery book writer) for inclusion in the ''Dictionary of National Biography'', which was then published in 2014.{{sfn|Rich|2020|p=409}}{{sfn|Braithwaite|2014}}

Rich observes that Hill's approach was that of the "specialist and expert" when the style of contemporary cookery book publishing was towards that of the [[compendium]], as was seen with 1861 publication of [[Isabella Beeton]]'s ''[[Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management|Book of Household Management]]''.{{sfn|Rich|2014}} The food historian Sarah Freeman considers that the canon of Hill's work taken together is an equivalent to the compendium.{{sfn|Freeman|1989|p=168}}

Rich observes that Hill's approach was that of the "specialist and expert" when the style of contemporary cookery book publishing was towards that of the [[compendium]], as was seen with 1861 publication of [[Isabella Beeton]]'s ''[[Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management|A Book of Household Management]]''.{{sfn|Rich|2014}} The food historian Sarah Freeman considers that the canon of Hill's work taken together is an equivalent to the compendium.{{sfn|Freeman|1989|p=168}}

Hill's work has been used as a source in several works of social and food history, and her recipes and advice still appear in such works.{{efn|For example in Lucy Madden's ''The Potato Year'',{{sfn|Madden|2015|p=216}} [[Laura Shapiro]]'s ''What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women and the Food that Tells Their Stories'',{{sfn|Shapiro|2018|p=37}} [[Annie Gray]]'s ''How to Cook the Victorian Way with Mrs Crocombe'',{{sfn|Gray|2020|p=158}} Linda and Fred Griffith's ''Nuts'',{{sfn|Griffith|Griffith|2003|pp=108, 109}} Heather Arndt Anderson's ''Breakfast: A History'',{{sfn|Arndt Anderson|2013|pp=74, 79}} Sandra Oliver's ''Saltwater Foodways: New Englanders and their Food, at Sea and Ashore, in the Nineteenth Century'',{{sfn|Oliver|1995|pp=336, 337}} Jacqueline B. Williams's ''Wagon Wheel Kitchens'',{{sfn|Williams|1993|p=32}} Sarah Freeman's ''Best of Modern British Cookery'',{{sfn|Freeman|2008|p=173}} and [[Regula Ysewijn]]'s ''Pride and Pudding: The History of British Puddings Savoury and Sweet''.{{sfn|Ysewijn|2016|p=43}}}} ''Everybody's Pudding Book'' was republished as ''A Year of Victorian Puddings'' in 2012.{{sfn|Baker|2012|p=34}}

Hill's work has been used as a source in several works of social and food history, and her recipes and advice still appear in such works.{{efn|For example in Lucy Madden's ''The Potato Year'',{{sfn|Madden|2015|p=216}} [[Laura Shapiro]]'s ''What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women and the Food that Tells Their Stories'',{{sfn|Shapiro|2018|p=37}} [[Annie Gray]]'s ''How to Cook the Victorian Way with Mrs Crocombe'',{{sfn|Gray|2020|p=158}} Linda and Fred Griffith's ''Nuts'',{{sfn|Griffith|Griffith|2003|pp=108, 109}} Heather Arndt Anderson's ''Breakfast: A History'',{{sfn|Arndt Anderson|2013|pp=74, 79}} Sandra Oliver's ''Saltwater Foodways: New Englanders and their Food, at Sea and Ashore, in the Nineteenth Century'',{{sfn|Oliver|1995|pp=336, 337}} Jacqueline B. Williams's ''Wagon Wheel Kitchens'',{{sfn|Williams|1993|p=32}} Sarah Freeman's ''Best of Modern British Cookery'',{{sfn|Freeman|2008|p=173}} and [[Regula Ysewijn]]'s ''Pride and Pudding: The History of British Puddings Savoury and Sweet''.{{sfn|Ysewijn|2016|p=43}}}} ''Everybody's Pudding Book'' was republished as ''A Year of Victorian Puddings'' in 2012.{{sfn|Baker|2012|p=34}}