Best known work

• Beeton's Book of Household Management, 1861

Genres

• Journalism

Nom de plume

Isabella Mary Meyson

Social class

Middle class

Parental background

Father was a linen merchant. Beeton was schooled briefly at a boarding school and then abroad.

At publication of best known work

• Age: 25
• Marital status: Married
• Number of children: 1

Physical description

In her 1948 biography of Beeton, Nancy Spain describes her "heavy brown hair, a lovely erect carriage and a face whose beauty lay in its undeniable sweetness of expression." She is further described as a small woman with "long 'parisian' leaf-shaped eyes" of "serene blue" who possessed "charming little pianist's hands."

Did you know?

Beeton was one of 21 children brought up together - two sets of four step-children and a further 13 children in the marriage of their respective parents.

Additional information

There are several biographies of Mrs Beeton available for free on the Internet archive including Mrs Beeton and Her Husband (1948) and Isabella and Sam: The Story of Mrs Beeton (1978). A preview of The short Life & Long Times of Mrs Beeton by Katherine Hughes can be accessed on Google books.