Eleanor E. Orlebar
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1841
- Novelist
- cookbook writer
Eleanor E. Orlebar | |
|---|---|
| Born | Eleanor Edith Orlebar 1841 Nottingham, England |
| Died | (aged 65) Worthing, England |
| Occupation |
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| Period | 1878–1879 |
| Relatives |
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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).
Early life and family
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
Sancta Christina
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
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
Orlebar died on 23 January 1906, at the Home of the Holy Rood, Worthing, aged 65.[13]
