ON A COLD February day in 2012, local historian and charity shop volunteer David Lewis was sorting through the donated books in the sorting room at the Age UK shop in Selby.

Halfway down the pile lay an old, dog-eared green notebook. It had no chance of selling, David decided: all it was fit for was to be chucked onto the recycle pile to be chomped, pulped and turned into kitchen roll.

Fortunately, his aim was poor. The book hit the side of the pile and fell open on the floor - and an unexpected treasure was revealed.

Artisan Cooking said the heading on the first page, in neat copperplate handwriting.

Inside was page after page of the same handwriting, detailing recipes and kitchen tips from the Edwardian era more than 100 years ago.

They included instructions for making the likes of wholesome Edwardian dishes such as stuffed sheep's head, battered tripe, potato cheesecake and something called 'stir up rhubarb pudd', together with tips on 'household management' ranging from how to do the washing up to how to sharpen your fork.

The notebook appeared to have been handwritten by a Miss Mary Eleanor Blakey in April 1903. At first, David thought he'd just hang on to it as a curio. But then the historian in him came to the fore.

"I started doing some research into who this mysterious Miss Blakey was," he says.

York Press:

David Lewis with Mary Blakey's original notebook

That research took him almost four years to complete - but the story which emerged was an extraordinary one. Miss Blakey, it turned out, had had one of those busy Victorian/ Edwardian lives of of duty and usefulness - or 'durability, efficiency and economy' as she herself might have put it, using her favourite phrase to describe a well-run kitchen.

Born in a historic house near Ripon in April, 1876, Mary Eleanor moved with her family of nine to Howden and then to an 18-roomed mansion near Hemingbrough, close to Selby, where her relatives still farm. She then lodged in a mining village east of Leeds in the early 1900s, where she taught her kitchen skills to factory girls and labourers' daughters, and learnt to love rhubarb.

"I found out that Mary's domestic science lessons were way ahead of her time," David says. "She was really keen to get the girls to cook healthy and tasty food, not just fat-ridden fry ups."

York Press:

Mary Eleanor Blakey, centre, with convalescent soldiers and nurses at Cockermouth Castle during the First World War

While some of her dishes, such as that stuffed sheep's head and battered tripe, probably wouldn't grace many tables today, others sound delicious. Among her many recipes were regional dishes such as Moggy (East Riding gingerbread), stir up rhubarb pudd (a West Riding recipe for forced rhubarb) and potato cheesecake (a Lincolnshire harvest-time dish) as well as solid staples like Irish stew and roast pork.

Mary was married in Howden in 1909, and followed husband Willie Hall, at the time the most famous sheep breeder in Cumberland and the Borders, to Cockermouth.

During the First World War, she was Commandant of the Cockermouth Auxiliary Hospital, and received the MBE for her work.

After 20 years of family life, she was forced to leave the family home when Willie died in 1937. Mary herself died in Carlisle in 1939, and is buried in that town, many miles from either of her families.

York Press:

A recipe page from Mary Blakey's original notebook

David decided that her life - and her household management tips and recipes - were worth celebrating: and that the best way of doing so would be to publish a modern version of her book.

"I've selected 75 of Mary's recipes for the book, along with her tips on kitchen management, going as far as how to sharpen the tines of your fork," he says. "I've also included a section on how advanced her teaching was for the time, as well as a detailed biography."

And the title of the book? Durability, Efficiency, Economy, of course - Mary's phrase describing a well-run kitchen.

Hopefully, Mary herself would have approved.

  • Durability, Efficiency, Economy: a guide to kitchen management and economy by David Lewis based on the 1903 notebook of Mary Eleanor Blakey, is published by David Lewis, priced £7.

The book was launched yesterday (Friday) at the Hub Café in Selby's Market Cross, and is on sale at Selby Library, the Hub Cafe, Selby Town Hall and independent stores throughout the town. It is also available from the York Ber and Wine Shop in sandringham Street, York, or direct from David Lewis by emailing dglmeb@gmail.com David will be at Selby Library at 10.30am on Monday (April 11) to host a morning tea-party complete with free cakes prepared from Mary's recipes, and to talk about her life and work.

One of Mary's recipes

Stir up Rhubarb Pudd

  • 1 1/2 lbs rhubarb (cut small)
  • 1 egg
  • 10 ozs flour
  • 1/2 oz baking powder
  • 3 ozs suet
  • Pinch of salt

Mix with milk and water in a quart-sized basin until not too soft but fairly firm. Stir all ingredients together. Boil two hours