FabulousFusionFood's Recipes from the Georgian Age Home Page

Images of the seven Stuart rulers of Britain The seven Stuart rulers of Britain. A: James Ist/VI; B: Charles Ist;
C: Oliver Cromwell; D: Charles IInd; E: James IInd; F: William
and Mary and G: Queen Anne.
Welcome to FabulousFusionFood's Recipes from the Stuart Period Page — This page brings together all the recipes on this site that originate in the Stuart period (1603–1714). All recipes are given as modern redactions (and where possible in their original forms). Many come from Hanna Woolley's cookbooks (links below) but others are traditional regional recipes associated with the Stuart age. I hope you will find recipes that are both familiar and those you may not have encountered before. Below you will also find a short description of the Stuart age. (For the recipe list scroll down.) Enjoy...


The Stuart Age



1603–1714

The Stuart period (1603 to 1714 in England and Wales and 1371 to 1714 in Scotland). This period in history represents the period of the unification of the British crowns. It also covers the time of the English civil war.

For Scotland, the Stuart period begins with the accession of the first Stuart king to the Scottish throne in 1371. For the other nations of Britain it begins with the death of Elizabeth Ist and the accession of James Ist (James VI of Scotland) [image A] to the throne of England. James was the first British monarch to use the style "King of Great Britain". Indeed, it was James I proclamation of 12 April 1606 that legislated an amalgamation of the English and Scottish flags, initiating the design of the first Union Flag.

The entire Stuart period was a time of great social upheaval. This period saw the Puritan movement becoming more powerful. As London expanded, there was an increasing mercantile class who became rich enough to become gentlemen. This allowed them to stand for parliament. As a result the number of mercantile gentry came to outnumber the landed gentry in Parliament. There was also the continuing conflict between Protestants and Catholics. The first major sign of these conflicts was the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, which saw an attempt at assassinating James Ist during the state opening of parliament.

James Ist died on 27 March 1625 and was succeeded by his son, Charles Ist (image B). Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles believed was divinely ordained. Many of his English subjects opposed his actions, in particular his interference in the English and Scottish churches and the levying of taxes without parliamentary consent, because they saw them as those of a tyrannical absolute monarch. This let Charles into direct conflict with Parliament and led directly to the First Civil War (1642–45) during which Charles was defeated and Parliament expected him to accept its demands for a constitutional monarchy. He instead remained defiant by attempting to forge an alliance with Scotland and escaping to the Isle of Wight. This provoked the Second Civil War (1648–49) and a second defeat for Charles, who was subsequently captured, tried, convicted, and executed for high treason. The monarchy was then abolished and a republic called the Commonwealth of England, also referred to as the Cromwellian Interregnum, was declared. Though a Republic, Oliver Cromwell (image C) became the effective head of state under the title of 'Lord Protector'. Cromwell was Lord Protector from 16 December 1653 – 3 September 1658 and the eleven-year period where Britain was under parliamentary control is traditionally called the 'Interregnum'. Many strictures were placed on society by the Puritans. Amongst other things, the Puritans banned gambling, cockfights, the theatre, and even Christmas.

A political crisis that followed the death of Cromwell in 1658 resulted in the restoration of the monarchy, and Charles II (the son of Charles I who fled to France during the Interregnum) was invited to return to Britain. On 29 May 1660, his 30th birthday, he was received in London to public acclaim. After 1660, all legal documents were dated as if Charles II (image D) had succeeded his father as king in 1649.

The reign of Charles II, though it coincided with the great Plague of London in 1665 was a golden age in terms of theatre, the arts and science as the laws enacted by the Puritans were repealed. This was the time of Wren, Hawksmoor, Newton and Pepys, to name but a few. The Greenwich observatory was established, as was the Royal Society. The era saw the settlement of the Americas, trade with the Spice Islands, the birth of steam engines, microscopes, coffee houses and newspapers. Charles was popularly known as the Merrie Monarch, in reference to both the liveliness and hedonism of his court and the general relief at the return to normality after over a decade of rule by Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans. Charles's wife, Catherine of Braganza, bore no children, but Charles acknowledged at least 12 illegitimate children by various mistresses. As illegitimate children were excluded from the succession, he was succeeded by his brother James.

Charles II died on 3 September 1651 and was succeeded by his brother, James II (image, E). Unlike his brother, James was a Catholic and was the last Roman Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Members of Britain's political and religious elite increasingly opposed him for being pro-French and pro-Catholic, and for his designs on becoming an absolute monarch. When he produced a Catholic heir, the tension exploded, and leading nobles called on William III of Orange (his son-in-law and nephew) to land an invasion army from the Netherlands, which he did. James fled England (and thus was held to have abdicated) in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. He was replaced by William of Orange who became king as William III, ruling jointly with his wife (James's daughter) Mary II. Thus William and Mary (image, F), both Protestants, became joint rulers in 1689. James made one serious attempt to recover his crowns, when he landed in Ireland in 1689 but, after the defeat of the Jacobite forces by the Williamite forces at the Battle of the Boyne in the summer of 1690, James returned to France. He lived out the rest of his life as a pretender at a court sponsored by his cousin and ally, King Louis XIV.

Mary II died on 28 December 1694 and after her William III continued to rule as King. Princess Anne's last surviving child, William, Duke of Gloucester, died in July 1700, and, as it was clear that William III would have no more children, Parliament passed the Act of Settlement 1701, which provided that after Anne the Crown would go to their nearest Protestant relative, Sophia, Electress of Hanover, and her Protestant heirs. When William III died in 1702, he was succeeded by Anne, and she in turn was succeeded by the son of the deceased Electress Sophia, George I.

Queen Anne (image, G), ascended to the throne on 8 March 1702. Despite seventeen pregnancies, Anne died without surviving children and was the last monarch of the House of Stuart. She was succeeded by her second cousin George I of the House of Hanover, who was a descendant of the Stuarts through his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth, daughter of James VI and I. As such the Stuart period came to an end and the Georgian era began.



The Stuart period saw not only the start of Britain as an unified political entity, but also saw Britain becoming a global power, thanks to a much expanded Royal Navy and advances in science and engineering. The seeds of the start of the Agricultural revolution was also sown, with the search for breeding improved animals.

It is also during this time that the power of the monarchy was curtailed whilst the power of parliament grew and the first steps towards a constitutional monarchy were made.

Despite the Puritan's dour and sombre reputation, a number of cookery books were published during the Interregnum, the most well known of them being written by the author known only by the initials W.M. whose works include: The Compleat Cook.

The Stuart period saw increasing literacy across the board, and education also became far more accessible for women. It was for these people that Robert May published his The Accomplisht Cook (1660) for and for whom Hannah Woolley, in 1670 published her: Queen-like Closet, a cookery book written in plain English and which made cookery accessible. The book was a phenomenal success, in part due to increasing literacy, particularly in women, during this period.

Here you will find a cross-section of Stuart fare, from the well-known recipes of Hannah Woolley to the recipes of less well known cookery writers and the food of the working man and the humblest of families..



The alphabetical list of all the Stuart Era recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 18 recipes in total:

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Cheesecake
     Origin: Britain
To Dress a Hen, Mutton or Lamb the
Indian Way

     Origin: England
To make an excellent aromaticall
Hyppocras

     Origin: Britain
Naples Bisket
     Origin: Britain
To Drie Apricocks, Peaches, Pippins or
Pearplums

     Origin: England
To make Pancakes.
     Origin: England
Short Cakes
     Origin: Britain
To make a Collar of Brawn of a Breast
of Pork

     Origin: British
To make Syrup of Violets
     Origin: Britain
Slipcoat Cheese
     Origin: Britain
To make a Haggas Pudding.
     Origin: Britain
To make Verjuyce.
     Origin: Britain
To Candy Carrot Roots
     Origin: Britain
To make a Quaking Pudding
     Origin: Britain
To pickle any kind of Flowers.
     Origin: Britain
To Candy Flowers for Sallets, as
Violets, Cowslips, Clove-gilliflowers,
Roses, Primroses, Borrage, Bugloss,
&c.

     Origin: Britain
To make a Sack Posset
     Origin: Britain
To pickle Samphire, Broom-buds,
Kitkeys, Crucifix Pease, Purslane, or
the like Otherways.

     Origin: Britain

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