1. Isabella Beeton was once the Paris racing correspondent for Sporting Life.

2. A complete online version of The Book Of Household Management can now be downloaded.

3. Mrs Beeton, aided by her cook and maid, tested every single one of the recipes in the book.

4. The spices cited most frequently were nutmeg and mace.

5. After the second world war, Ward Lock published "updated" editions of The Book Of Household Management, to incorporate new ingredients and modern kitchen utensils and appliances, such as the pressure cooker.

6. It’s now accepted that Mrs Beeton plagiarised many of her recipes, particularly from Eliza Acton’s Modern Cookery For Private Families (1845).

7. Mrs Beeton’s first recipe for Victoria sponge forgot to include any eggs.

8. Samuel Beeton kept his wife’s death a secret from the public, fearing that the news would have an adverse affect on the book’s sales.

9. Eliza Acton, Mrs Beeton’s culinary predecessor, was included in the very first volume of the Dictionary Of National Biography; Mrs Beeton wasn’t included until 1993.

10. In the winter of 1858, Isabella Beeton opened a soup kitchen to feed poor children in her neighbourhood of Hatch End.