Elizabeth "Eliza" Acton (17 April 1799 – 13 February 1859) was a British cookery writer during the 19th century.
Biography[]
Elizabeth Acton was born in Battle, Sussex, England, the daughter of a Hastings brewer. She turned from poetry to cookery and, in 1845, published Modern Cookery, an instant success that played an important role in the development of a middle-class sociability; it remained in print until 1914. Acton and Frances Parkes' works were considered by some to be conservative and reinforcing women's limited rights, but they established schools to support themselves and supported furthering the "domestic economy" to advance women's contributions to the current political debates.