Maria Eliza Ketelby Rundell

Born Maria Eliza Ketelby in 1745, she became widely known as Maria Rundell after marrying Thomas Rundell, a family jeweler. She is remembered chiefly for A New System of Domestic Cookery (1806), a practical book written for private households that combined recipes, kitchen management, and household advice.

Rather than writing for professional chefs, she addressed ordinary families and aimed for economy, clarity, and usefulness. That approach helped the book become one of the most successful English cookery titles of its time, and it remained influential through many later editions.

Rundell also wrote on family life and conduct, including Letters Addressed to Two Absent Daughters (1814). She died in 1828, leaving behind a body of work that offers a vivid picture of domestic life, taste, and everyday practical knowledge in Georgian and Regency Britain.