Anne Blencowe

Anne Blencowe (née Wallis; 4 June 1656 – 6 April 1718), also known as Anne, Lady Blencowe, was a British compiler of recipes. Her book was first published more than 200 years after her death.

Life Anne Wallis was born to Susanna (Glynde) and Professor John Wallis, who taught geometry at Oxford University and was employed as a cryptographer. Anne Wallis is thought to have had a good education. In 1675, she married a barrister, Sir John Blencowe, who had recently inherited Marston Hall and his family's estate at Marston St. Lawrence in Northamptonshire. She became Anne, Lady Blencowe. The couple had seven children and five survived to be adults.

Blencoe died in 1718 and her husband died eight years later. They were both buried in Marston St. Lawrence.

Legacy Her recipes, which she called "Receipts", were kept in the library of her daughter, Susanna Jennens, at Weston Hall. This house was passed through the female line until it came into the possession of Sacheverell Sitwell, whose wife Georgia discovered the book. She showed it to George Saintsbury, who arranged for it to be published. More than 200 years after Blencowe's death, her recipe book was published, in 1925, accompanied by an eight-page introduction by Saintsbury. 600 copies were created. The book was reprinted in 2004 by one of Blencowe's descendants.