I spent manyinteresting hours trying to identify the author of a cookery book from the Stratford area. A scrap of envelope,addressed to 'Mrs Averill, Broadway', had a 'receipt' written on the back. This name led me tothe vicar of Broadway,andthe Hereford and Worcester Record Office. After a lot of correspondence and forehead wrinklingI was still unsureof the writer's identity.I discovered, though, that the name 'Averill' was French in origin andthat the family had lived in Broadway since 1613.

The 'Mrs Averill' I had set out to find might have been the second wife of Alfred Averill, surgeon and doctor to the Wedgwood pottery factory.Maria Annboreeleven children and lived a long life.

Whoever Mrs Averill may have been, her cookbook represents not merely a collection of recipes but a glimpse of a long vanished society.

In the nineteenth century roads leading to Broadwaywere in poor condition but the village was on the stage coach route to London, which was ninety two miles away.

Mrs Averill probably went to London occasionally. She has written a recipe on the back of aletter she received from a silk-mercer in the city, advisinghe has a consignment, newly arrived, of black watered silk.The perfect excuse for a shopping trip!

Of course, like other ladies of her class, she had help in the house, otherwise, with eleven children she would not have got further than the front door.

There are notes in the book regarding the duties of the cook and various servants. Though Mrs Averill had abig brood to feed, she did not have to scrub potatoes, boil puddings, skin hares,make a sauce from the hare's blood, (strain the clots first).

The family's foodappears interesting and varied: they had puddings galore, wine sauces, sausage cakes, sheeps's head stew, mutton pies, kedgeree (this was the time of theRaj), mango chutneys, pickled mackerel, Bath buns, biscuits, cakes, wines, jams, jellies, trifles, Christmas puddings.

All that food. It's enough to make your eyes pop and probably kept the cook on her feet from dawn to dusk.