Place of Origin

England

Date of Composition

1690-ca. 1799

Description

This recipe book is inscribed near the front: "The most honourable Rebecah, Marcionesse of Worcester, her booke, 1690." Rebecca Child was a daughter of Mary Atwood Child and Sir Josiah Child (1630-1699), governor of the East India Company, 1681-1683 and 1686-1688, and a sister of Richard Child, Earl of Tylney (1680-1750). She married Charles Somerset, Marquess of Worcester (1660-1698) in 1682; the couple had two children, Henry Somerset, 2nd Duke of Beaufort (1684-1714) and Henrietta (Somerset) Fitzroy, Duchess of Grafton (1690-1726). After Somerset died, Rebecca married John Granville, Baron Granville of Potheridge (1665-1707) in 1703.

The book contains a mix of culinary, medical, and household recipes written on approximately 272 leaves, some of which also have writing on the verso. Some of the recipes are presumed to be in the hand of Rebecca Child, but others are in the hands of other unidentified seventeenth and eighteenth century writers, possibly including Rebecca's daughter Henrietta and her granddaughter Caroline Stanhope, Countess of Harrington. Various recipes are attributed to family members, including Sir Josiah Child; Richard Child, Earl of Tylney; Mary Butler, Duchess of Ormonde (Rebecca's sister-in-law); and members of the Stanhope family.