Elizabeth Raffald (1733–81)
Cookery book writer and publisher of the first Manchester trade directory
A Georgian Entrepreneur
Elizabeth Raffald (née Whitaker) was born in Doncaster, Yorkshire. As a young woman, she entered service, rising to the position of housekeeper to Lady Elizabeth Warburton at Arley Hall, Cheshire. It was here that she met her future husband, John Raffald (c 1724–1809), Arley Hall’s head gardener. Following their marriage at Great Budworth, Cheshire on 3 March 1763, the couple moved to Manchester.
From her house in Fennel Street, Elizabeth began a domestic service agency: “A Public Register-Office, for supplying Families with Servants of all Denominations, and Servants with Places”. The cost was one shilling, and all servants were required to submit a signed character reference with their first application. She also ran a cookery school, a catering business “supplying Cold Entertainments, Hot French Dinners, Confectionaries, &c.” (‘Manchester Mercury’, 22 November 1763), and a wholesale and retail shop:
“To be SOLD, At E. RAFFALD’S, in Fennel-street, Manchester, A Large Quantity of fine Canterbury and Derbyshire Brawn. Also may be had Yorkshire Hams, Tongues, Newcastle Salmon, potted Meats, Portable Soup, Sweetmeats, Pickles, and all Kinds of made Dishes as usual. Likewise a large Quantity of Lemon Pickle Mushrooms, and Mushroom Catch-up, now ready for Sale.”
(‘Manchester Mercury’, 19 November 1765)
In 1766, the shop moved to larger premises in Market Place, which Elizabeth shared with her husband. Advertisements suggest a growing range of produce including fish, citrus fruit, condiments, perfumed waters, “Gold and Silver Webs for covering Sweetmeats” and “all Kinds of Cakes” including “Plumb Cakes for Weddings and Christenings” (‘Manchester Mercury’, 8 November 1768).
After selling the shop in 1772, Elizabeth worked alongside her husband, first at the King’s Head coaching inn in Chapel Street, Salford, and later at the Exchange Coffee House in Manchester. She also sold strawberries and hot drinks from a stand at Manchester Racecourse in the summer of 1780.
‘The Experienced English House-keeper’
Elizabeth Raffald is best-known for her cookery book, ‘The Experienced English House-keeper’, which was first published on 1 November 1769. “Wrote purely from PRACTICE”, the book included nearly 800 original recipes, and was dedicated to Elizabeth’s former employer, Lady Elizabeth Warburton of Arley Hall. Unusually for cookery books of the time, the publication excluded recipes for medicinals. Priced at five shillings to subscribers, and at six shillings thereafter, each copy was “signed by the author’s own hand-writing” to ensure authenticity.
A tremendous success, the book was reprinted six times during Elizabeth’s lifetime. The second edition (1771) included “an Appendix containing above one hundred approved Receipts in Cookery, Confectionary, Pickling, Preserving, &c.” These additions could be purchased separately by purchasers of the first edition. Elizabeth sold the copyright of the book to the London bookseller, Richard Baldwin, for a reported £1,400. The eighth edition (1782), printed after her death, was the first to include a portrait of the author. The high number of piracies, which appeared alongside thirteen authorised editions of the book, bear testament to its continued popularity.
Manchester Trade Directories
As provincial towns grew in size during the 18th century, directories, which listed the names, addresses and occupations of ‘the merchants, tradesmen, and principal inhabitants’, provided a useful resource for both residents and visitors. In 1772, Elizabeth Raffald took upon herself the “arduous task” of compiling the first directory for Manchester and Salford. The handbook, which also included a list of street names, details of travel services and the names of local office holders, was priced at 6d.
Despite running several profitable businesses at this time, Elizabeth Raffald did not include her own name in the directory. Her occupation of ‘confectioner’ is subsumed under the entry for her husband, John. Approximately 10% of entries in the directory are for women but, typically, these represent spinsters or widows. Many married women helped their husbands to run businesses, or managed their own concerns. However, until the Married Women’s Property Act (1882), they had no legal identity of their own. Although Manchester’s first directory was compiled by a woman, the contribution of the female workforce is under-represented within its pages.
Elizabeth went on to produce two further editions of the directory, in 1773, and in 1781, the year of her death. In the second edition, house numbers, a recent innovation in the town, were listed for the first time “for the more readily finding the Inhabitants”.
Legacy
One of Manchester’s earliest female entrepreneurs, Elizabeth Raffald juggled her business interests with domestic duties, an intemperate husband and at least nine pregnancies, although only three daughters are known to have survived to adulthood. She died suddenly on 19 April 1781 and was buried at St Mary’s church in Stockport. A bronze plaque, recognising her achievements, can be found on the wall of Selfridge’s in Manchester. There is another commemorative plaque at the Arden Arms in Stockport.
In 2013, a number of Elizabeth’s recipes were introduced to the menu at Arley Hall’s Tudor Barn Restaurant.
In 2019, Elizabeth Raffald was included in the Manchester’s Hidden Stories mural project by the artist Meha Hindocha in collaboration with NOMA Manchester and The Old Bank Residency.
Discussion Points
- How do cookery books inform social history?
- What does the omission of Elizabeth Raffald’s name from the Manchester trade directories tell us about the status of women in the 18th century?
- What sources are available for the study of women’s history?
Additional Resources
Suze Appleton, ‘Elizabeth Raffald: Manchester’s first celebrity cook and a remarkable 18th century entrepreneur’, (2018)
Suze Appleton, ‘Introduction to Elizabeth Raffald: Author, innovator, and more from Manchester’s 18th century’, (2017)
John Harland (ed.), ‘Elizabeth Raffald, Publisher of the First Manchester Directory, Cookery Book, &c.’ in ‘Collectanea Relating to Manchester and its Neighbourhood, at Various Periods’, Vol. 2, Chetham Society, 72 (Manchester, 1867), pp. 144–73. Available here.
Arley Hall Archives includes receipted invoices showing purchases from Elizabeth Raffald’s shop in Manchester.
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