ABSTRACT
Elizabeth Whitaker Raffald, a native of Doncaster, Yorkshire, spoke authoritatively on the English kitchen of the late eighteenth century. She was born in 1733 and received the standard education for young women. Raffald chose on-the-job training, beginning in 1748. Under Sir Peter and Lady Elizabeth Warburton, Raffald, at age twenty-seven, became housekeeper at Arley Hall, Cheshire, where she refined her knowledge of food preparation. Three years later, she married the gardener, botanist John Raffald, who originally recommended her for her job. After six years, she moved on to better herself, but remained a close associate of the Warburtons.
