Eleanor E. Orlebar
Eleanor Edith Orlebar was an English writer. She authored the historical novel, Sancta Christina: A Story of the First Century and the vegetarian cookbook, Food for the People; or, Lentils and other Vegetable Cookery.
Biography
Early life and family
Eleanor Edith Orlebar was born in Nottingham in 1841 to Rev. Cuthbert and Eleanor Orlebar. Her father was, for sometime, vicar of Podington and her mother was a writer, authoring works including, Cinderella, a Fairy Tale in Verse and the novel, Frank Bennet: A Story of the Stocking-Loom and of the Lace-Frame in 1811. Orlebar had two brothers and two sisters. Children's writer William Henry Giles Kingston and meteorologist George Kingston were her uncles. Her maternal great-grandfather was Giles Rooke, Justice of the Common Pleas, and her maternal great-great-grandfather was Valentine Knightley.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. It was described as a "story illustrating the growth of early Christianity in Etruria during the first century."''Food for the People''
Orlebar published the vegetarian cookbook, Food for the People; or, Lentils and other Vegetable Cookery in 1879. 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. 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.Death
Orlebar died on 23 January 1906, at the Home of the Holy Rood, Worthing, aged 65.Publications
Sancta Christina: A Story of the First Century- ''Food for the People; or, Lentils and other Vegetable Cookery''