A Selection from
Mary Wise's Recipe Books

Collated by Leek Wootton History Group

The Leek Wootton History Group was formed in 1998 when a number of people in the community got together to produce a history of the Parish of Leek Wootton & Guy's Cliffe, which resulted in the publication in 2001 of 'Leek Wootton and its Hamlets'. The book proved a huge success and the print run of over 1,000 copies soon sold out. Since that time the Group has distributed profits from book sales to local causes, continued a living archive of the community and supported Warwickshire County Record Office and the Outside the Box team, including volunteering to produce this booklet based on some of the findings of the Outside the Box project. We wish to thank the Heart of England Community Foundation, Grassroots Warwickshire Fund, for its grant funding to enable this booklet to be printed, published and offered free of charge. The Group also wishes to thank, in particular, Rachel Brook of Warwickshire County Catering for her invaluable input and guidance on the recipes to be included; Dennis Cole of Vancouver, Canada for consent to use the portrait of Mary Wise (née Tilson), and Warwickshire County Record Office for permission to use photographs of material in the Waller Collection. The Outside the Box team and other staff at Warwickshire County Record Office were very supportive throughout the task of studying the original household books when preparing the material for inclusion, in assisting with the design and in giving guidance throughout. Finally, we must thank members of the History Group and others who transcribed the original recipes, for test cooking, writing the introductory section, editing, illustrating and designing this booklet.

Mary Wise

Born Mary Tilson at the beginning of the 18th Century she married Henry Wise on 19th May 1732 at the Church of St Benet, Paul's Wharf, London. Henry Wise was born in 1706, the second surviving son of Henry Wise, Royal Gardener to William III, Anne and George I, and his wife Patience. Henry Wise senior amassed a large fortune with numerous properties, including The Priory, Warwick, which he purchased in 1709 and to which he retired in 1727. He died in 1738. Henry the younger and his wife, Mary, of Hampton Court, Middlesex, had a single child, Henry Christopher Wise, in 1738. Mary died in 1760, Henry in 1778, and both were buried in Hampton Church. Henry the younger inherited The Priory, Warwick, on the death of his older brother Matthew when he died in 1776. Mary, like all wives of her time, would have started a household book upon her marriage, as had her Mother-in-Law, Patience. Evidence suggests that the two books came together at The Priory, Warwick, when they were inherited by Henry Christopher. These books have remained in the Wise family archive and later the Waller archive until today.

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