'Mrs Cromwell's Cookbook: Food, Print & Politics': a talk by Stuart Orme

19-06-24 - 19-06-24,
7:30 PM - 9:00 PM

Admission: ££6 Adults, £4.50 Students/Museum Members

Location: Via Zoom

In 1664 ‘The Court and Kitchen of Elizabeth, commonly called Joan Cromwell’ was published, purporting to be the cookery book of Oliver Cromwell’s wife as a piece of Royalist propaganda. The Cromwell Museum in Huntingdon has a rare surviving copy. This talk looks at this curious publication and what it reveals about politics, print culture, food and dining, as well as the eningmatic figure of Mrs Cromwell herself. It also asks the question - was the cookbook based on a real set of recipes consumed by the Cromwell family?

Stuart is a graduate historian with postgraduate qualifications in Education and Museum Studies, who has worked in Museums and Heritage in East Anglia for over 20 years. Since February 2018 he has been Curator of the Cromwell Museum, leading on its acclaimed refurbishment and reinterpretation in 2020. He has a passion for history, which he enjoys sharing with people through his work, as well as writing books and articles, delivering talks and through regular broadcasts on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. Stuart has long had an interest in 17th Century history, and is also a Trustee of the Huntingdonshire History Festival, Chair of Peterborough Museum Society, a committee member of the Huntingdonshire History Society and an ex-officio member of the council of the Cromwell Association.

This talk will be recorded and put on a private channel after the 'live talk' for ticket holders to view at their leisure if they miss the live talk or wish to view them again.

This talk is part of a four part lecture series; for season tickets please click here:

We are delighted to welcome over four successive Wednesdays:

Wednesday 29 May at 7.30pm - Mark Turnbull on 'King Charles I: Man, Monarch and Memory'

Wednesday 5 June at 7.30pm - Professor John Morrill on 'Risen from Obscurity? Oliver Cromwell's Early Life'

Wednesday 12 June at 7.30pm - Dr Stuart Jennings on 'The Experience of the Civil Wars'

Wednesday 17 June at 7.30pm - Stuart Orme on 'Mrs Cromwell's Cookbook: 1600s Food, Print and Politics'

Click on the titles for more information and individual bookings.

PLEASE NOTE: These talks will be held online via Zoom. Joining details will be sent 48 hours before the talk.

Admission: £20 Adults (for 4 talks), £15 for students/Museum Members (for 4 talks); for individual talks £6 Adults, £4.50 students/Museum Members.

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