Lady Hackett's Hacks
Lady Hackett's Household Guide
by Deborah Buller Murphy, LL.D.
The inspiration for this site is a book which belonged to my grandmother, Marjorie Davidson (nee Murphy). This vintage piece of Australiana is 'Lady Hackett's Household Guide', first published in 1916, after the outbreak of WWI and republished in 1940, after the outbreak of WW2. Its remarkable author was Deborah Buller Murphy, LL.D. (formerly Lady Hackett), and the guide is replete with budget-friendly recipes and household hints which minimise waste; surely as relevant today as when it was first published.
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The aim of this site is to trial some of the recipes and methods found in this extensive guide. I hope these tests will be fun and informative!
About me:
​My name is Amanda and I am a keen cook, gardener and lover of old books. As a seriously nerdy bookworm child, I loved nothing better than to fossick through library shelves seeking out old books on gardening, cooking cakes and sweets and recipes for old-fashioned creams and potions.
I first read Lady Hackett's Household Guide at my grandmother's house. She had bought it during the Second World War as it was imperative to live frugally at the time. I loved the quaint language and the comprehensive approach to household matters and I was thrilled when my mother gave me the copy she had inherited from her mother.
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I hope you'll enjoy bringing these recipes and hints back to life with me!
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About Lady Hackett:​
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​Author, philanthropist, mining prospector and more - what a remarkable woman!
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https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hackett-deborah-vernon-6513
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https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/wa-afternoons/lady-hackett/102863270​
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