Wikipedia

Eleanor E. Orlebar

Eleanor E. Orlebar
Born
Eleanor Edith Orlebar

1841 (1841)
Nottingham, England
Died (aged 65)
Worthing, England
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • cookbook writer
Period1878–1879
Relatives

Eleanor Edith Orlebar (1841 – 23 January 1906) was an English writer. She authored the historical novel, Sancta Christina: A Story of the First Century (1878) and the vegetarian cookbook, Food for the People; or, Lentils and other Vegetable Cookery (1879).

Biography

[edit]

Early life and family

[edit]

Eleanor Edith Orlebar was born in Nottingham in 1841 to Rev. Cuthbert (d. 1861) and Eleanor Orlebar (née Kingston).[1][2] Her father was, for sometime, vicar of Podington and her mother was a writer, authoring works including, Cinderella, a Fairy Tale in Verse (1848) and the novel, Frank Bennet: A Story of the Stocking-Loom and of the Lace-Frame in 1811 (1869).[3][4][5] Orlebar had two brothers and two sisters.[2] Children's writer William Henry Giles Kingston and meteorologist George Kingston were her uncles.[6][7] Her maternal great-grandfather was Giles Rooke, Justice of the Common Pleas, and her maternal great-great-grandfather was Valentine Knightley.[3]

Writing

[edit]

Sancta Christina

[edit]

In 1878, Orlebar published the historical novel, Sancta Christina: A Story of the First Century, with a preface by the Bishop of Winchester.[8] It was described as a "story illustrating the growth of early Christianity in Etruria during the first century."[9]

Food for the People

[edit]

Orlebar published the vegetarian cookbook, Food for the People; or, Lentils and other Vegetable Cookery in 1879.[10] She was inspired to write on the subject after reading letters in The Times advocating for the benefits of lentils by William Gibson Ward, a vice-president of the Vegetarian Society. The book contains numerous lentil-based recipes as well as other vegetarian dishes.[11] The Oxford Companion to Food describes it as "one of the most eccentric, and endearing, food books of the 19th century" and its author as displaying a deep knowledge of classical studies, a talent for persuasive writing, and a keen awareness of distinctive details.[12]

Death

[edit]

Orlebar died on 23 January 1906, at the Home of the Holy Rood, Worthing, aged 65.[13]

Publications

[edit]
  • Sancta Christina: A Story of the First Century (London: Sampson Low, 1878)
  • Food for the People; or, Lentils and other Vegetable Cookery (London: Sampson Low, 1879)

Further reading

[edit]
  • "Lentils–Cheap Cookery". Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science and Arts. W. & R. Chambers. 1879. pp. 495–496.
  • "A Taste of Victorian Vegetarian Cookery". Pioneerthinking.com. 17 July 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2025.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Orlebar, Eleanor E. (Eleanor Edith), 1841-1906". Library of Congress. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  2. ^ a b The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal. Vol. 3. p. 520.
  3. ^ a b The Aristocracy of London, Titled, Untitled, Professional Commercial. Vol. 1. Kensington. London: O'Byrne Brothers & Co. 1863. p. 14 – via Project Gutenberg.
  4. ^ "Cinderella, a fairy tale in verse". Digital Archive. Toronto Public Library. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  5. ^ Bassett, Troy J. (31 December 2024). "Author: Mrs. Cuthbert Orlebar". At the Circulating Library: A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837—1901. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  6. ^ Hamilton, J. A. (23 September 2004). "Kingston, William Henry Giles (1814–1880), children's writer". In Dixon, Diana (ed.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 1 (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/15629. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  7. ^ Thomas, Morley K. (1982). "Kingston, George Templeman". In Halpenny, Francess G. (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XI (1881–1890) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
  8. ^ "Sancta Christina. By Eleanor E. Orlebar". The Spectator Archive. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  9. ^ "List of the New and More Important Books Placed in the Library During October, November, and December, 1878". Bulletin of the Public Library of the City of Boston. Vol. 4. Boston: Rockwell and Churchill. 1881. p. 11.
  10. ^ Gregory, James (29 June 2007). Of Victorians and Vegetarians: The Vegetarian Movement in Nineteenth-century Britain. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 284. ISBN 978-0-85771-526-5.
  11. ^ "Food Reform". Lennox Herald. 31 May 1879. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Davidson, Alan (1 January 2014). "lentil". In Jaine, Tom (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199677337.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-967733-7.
  13. ^ "Deaths". The Times. 25 January 1906. p. 1. Retrieved 3 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.