This photograph shows a teacher, Miss Henry, making pastry in a cookery lesson at Manchester High School for Girls. In the background a senior girl is putting something in the oven. Until very recent times, only girls had cookery lessons in school. Girls were taught how to cook in Victorian times because this was an essential part of being a wife and mother. Most meals were cooked at home. Cooking was regarded as part of a woman's work in the home.
Housecraft at Manchester High School
A housecraft course was set up at Manchester High School by the second Headmistress, Sara Burstall. The course was based on what she had seen in American secondary schools. It included practical subjects such as cookery, laundry work [washing], hygiene [avoiding infection by keeping things clean], household management [how to manage a family budget] and needlework. The girls also studied academic subjects such as arithmetic, science, English, history and French. It was very popular.
Worksheet
Make a list of the cooking utensils that you can see in the picture.
Which utensils are still used today?
What cooking equipment is used today which was not used in Victorian times?