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Martha Brotherton

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Martha Brotherton
Born
Martha Harvey

1783
Old Whittington, Derbyshire, England
Died(1861-01-13)13 January 1861 (aged 78)
Salford, England
Resting placeWeaste Cemetery, Salford
Occupation(s)Cookbook writer, activist
Known forWriting the first vegetarian cookbook
Notable workVegetable Cookery (1812)
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1805; died 1857)​
Children4
RelativesWilliam Harvey (brother)

Martha Harvey Brotherton (born Martha Harvey; 1783 – 13 January 1861) was an English cookbook writer and an advocate for vegetarianism. In 1812, she published Vegetable Cookery, the first known vegetarian cookbook. She married Joseph Brotherton, her cousin, in 1806; he later became Salford’s first Member of Parliament. A passionate supporter of the Bible Christian Church, she championed the church’s values, which included dietary reform and ethical living.

Biography

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Title page of the 1833 edition of Vegetable Cookery.

Martha Harvey, was born in 1783 in Whittington, Derbyshire,[note 1] the daughter of Joseph Harvey (b. 1743) and Martha Brotherton. She had several siblings. Her brother, William Harvey, became a notable figure in Salford's Bible Christian Church and various social reform movements, including the Vegetarian Society, temperance, and parliamentary reform. William also served as Mayor of Salford in 1857 and 1858.[2]

On 12 March 1805, she married Joseph Brotherton (1783–1857) at Whittington Anglican Church, Derbyshire. The couple initially resided in Manchester before moving to Salford, where her husband inherited his father's cotton mill, became a minister of the Bible Christian Church, and eventually Salford's first Member of Parliament.[2] The couple had four children.[2]

Brotherton played a significant role in the Bible Christian Church, both as the minister's wife,[2] and as the author of the first vegetarian cookbook, Vegetable Cookery, in 1812.[3] The book was originally published anonymously[4] and was republished several times throughout the 19th-century.[5] Historians have observed that Brotherton's book guided early 19th-century Americans in adopting vegetarianism.[6] Kathryn Gleadle notes that the book was crucial to the movement, forming the basis for later vegetarian cookbooks.[7]

Brotherton attended the first annual meeting of the Vegetarian Society, as well as other meetings.[8]

Brotherton died of a heart attack[8] on 13 January 1861 at the age of 78.[2] She was buried alongside her husband at Weaste Cemetery, Salford.[2] A statue was made for her by Matthew Noble.[8]

Notes

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  1. ^ Church records indicate that a Martha Harvey was baptised on 24 Jun 1782 in Whittington, so she may have been actually born in 1782.[1]

References

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  1. ^ Ancestry.com. Derbyshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Biography: Martha Brotherton". Weaste Cemetery Heritage Trail. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
  3. ^ Phelps, Norm (2007). The Longest Struggle: Animal Advocacy from Pythagoras to PETA. Lantern Books. p. 149. ISBN 978-1-59056-106-5.
  4. ^ "Joseph & Martha Brotherton". V for Life. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
  5. ^ "A Case for Kale: Vegetarianism in Victorian England". The Feast. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  6. ^ Baughman, James L; Ratner-Rosenhagen, Jennifer; Danky, James P. (2015). Protest on the Page: Essays on Print and the Culture of Dissent Since 1865. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 114–115. ISBN 978-0-299-30284-9
  7. ^ Gleadle, Kathryn. The Age of Physiological Reformers: Rethinking Gender and Domesticity in the Age of Reform. In Arthur Burns, Joanna Innes. (2003). Rethinking the Age of Reform: Britain 1780-1850. Cambridge University Press. p. 216. ISBN 0-521-82394-3
  8. ^ a b c Gregory, James Richard Thomas Elliott (2002). "Biographical Index of British Vegetarians and Food reformers of the Victorian Era". The Vegetarian Movement in Britain c.1840–1901: A Study of Its Development, Personnel and Wider Connections (PDF). Vol. 2. University of Southampton. p. 20. Retrieved 2022-10-02.
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