Help solve the Leicestershire Stilton Cheese mystery

[Kirwan]

Thanks for the references, please don't be concerned about challenge - what I need is to get as near accurate a picture as possible. 

It is likely that there are several origins to 'Stilton Cheese' in other words several Stilton Cheeses.  There's the Stilton that Bradley says became famous in Stilton say before the turn of the 1700's and there's the Stilton that he and Lord Harley disliked which seems to have been made by a different recipe 1725.  There are the Stilton's of around the 1720's period when a Mrs Orton of Little Dalby near Melton Mowbray was supposed to have started selling her cheese to Mr Cooper of the Bell Inn.  This Stilton has its origin in Lady Beaumont's Cheese of Quenby Hall and before that Kirby Bellars both near Melton Mowbray.  The Stilton we have today however is derived from the Stilton much improved by Frances Pawlett (Paulet) of Wymondham near Melton Mowbray and marketed by Cooper Thornhill of the Bell Inn. 

She is credited with standardising and improving the quality of Stilton Cheese.  She changed the way to crumble the curd producing a more open texture to allow further bluing to occur.  She introduced ceramic pipes with holes in them so that the unpressed cheese could drain and mature.  It was her innovation to pierce the cheese with stainless steel needles to allow in the air and so enhance mould development.  Finally she standardised the weight and shape of Stilton to a sixteen pound drum. 

Stilton used to be seasonal again it was Mrs Pawlett who managed to extend the season.

It is this version of Stilton that is protected as it originated from around Melton Mowbray and was never made in Stilton.  There was a move to call this Meltonian Cream Cheese in the 1930's but it never caught on.

There's a very good reference to this in a book by Sir John Squires in 1937 who makes the same observation as you that some of the claims for Stilton are at least a generation out.

Bradley's monthly letters was actually the first gardening magazine.  They have been digitally copied but unfortunately you have to be an academic institution to read them.

I was in the huntingdon records office this morning doing some further research on stilton itself and cooper thornhill.  The Bell Inn had a farm associated with it….

Thanks again

Kirwan

[Kirwan]

To follow the point about there being several Stiltons. Parkinson in his History of Agriculture of Huntingdon makes the claim for a Stilton produced cheese but he goes on to say:

None of this cheese is now made at Stilton, though there is every reason to believe that it originated there, and not in Leicestershire.

In other words he's saying the original Stilton died out and the Stilton produced today is the Leicestershire recipe.

None of this cheese is now made at Stilton, though there is every reason to believe that it originated there, and not in Leicestershire see below.  Kirwan

General View of the Agriculture of the County of Huntingdon by Richard Parkinson, Board of Agriculture (Great Britain), Great Britain Agricultural Survey - Agriculture - 1811

On Stilton Cheese.  Pages 231-233

Before the subject of cattle is concluded, it is necessary to make some observations regarding that celebrated article called Stilton cheese.

Mr. Nichols,in his History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester, where he gives an account of the parish of Little Dalby, writes thus: " This lordship is famous for having first made the best cheese, perhaps in the world, commonly known by the name of Stilton cheese, from its having been originally bought up and made known by Cooper Thornhill, the landlord of the Bell Inn at Stilton. It began to be made here by Mrs. Orton about the year 1730, in small quantities, for at first it was supposed that it could only be made from the milk of the cows which fed in one close, now called Orton's close ; but this was afterwards found to be an error. In 1756 it was made only by three persons, and that in small quantities, but it is now made not only from one, but from almost every close in this parish, and in many of the neighbouring ones. It is well known that this sort of cheese is made in the shape and of the size of a collar of brawn. It is extremely rich, because they mix among the new milk as much cream as it will bear. It requires much care and attendance, and being in great request, it fetches 10p per lb on the spot and 1s in the London market."

But Mr. John Pitts, landlord of the Bell Inn, Stilton, as well as Mr. Maxwell, contend with the greatest probability of truth, that the famous Stilton cheese was first made at Stilton in Huntingdonshire.

Mr. Pitts' reasons for maintaining that opinion, are given in the following account, drawn up from Mr. Pitts' own relation of the case. " Mr. John Pitts, landlord of the Bell Inn at Stilton says, that he has every reason to believe, that the cheese known under the name of Stilton, was originally made at that place ; that one Croxton Bray, a very old man, who died about the year 1777, aged about eighty years, remembers very well when a boy, that he, his brothers and sisters, and the people of Stilton in general, sent their children about to collect all the cream in the neighbouring villages, for the purpose of making what is called Stilton cheese. The receipt for making it is, the cream of the evening and morning, and the new milk all mixed together. This must have been long before Mr. Cooper Thornhill's time. Mr. Thornhill selling great quantities, and wanting more than could be had at Stilton, and knowing that Leicestershire produced excellent milk, and having relations in that county, he sent a person to them to instruct them in the mode of making it."

None of this cheese is now made at Stilton, though there is every reason to believe that it originated there, and not in Leicestershire. It is evident, indeed, from the above account, and the testimony of Mr. Pitts, that if began to be made at Stilton, when Croxton Bray was a boy, which must have been previous to the year 1720, at least ten years earlier than the time when it began to be made at Little Dalby in Leicestershire, according to Mr. Nichols's concession, who candidly admits that the cheese bearing the name of Stilton did not begin to be made at Little Dalby, till about the year 1730.

 

[Framesmiths1816]

Dear Kirwan,

I owe you thanks for passing me all this information. Your interest and knowledge in the subject suggests more than a genealogical one. Are you connected with one or other of the manufacturers?

As you might have already guessed, I grew up in Stilton and have known a number of the decedents of people mentioned in the historic texts above. As you can imagine,in Stilton, the subject of the origins of Stilton Cheese is a hot topic and always has two sides. One that quotes from the acknowledge sources (usually the one that claims cheese was never made in Stilton) and the other that goes "well my granddad said his granddad...."

Recently some information was passed to a group in the village and I was asked to verify that information hence my knowledge of Richard Bradley.

I have not yet managed to find the c1690 quote I previously mentioned. Nothing written in your previous text sounds like that which I have seen even though the content is similar. I have it in mind that I read it in a Thesis or Dissertation found in a University Library, possibly in New York. I usually save all sources although in this instant I might have decided not to save an entire Thesis for one paragraph. I will keep looking.

Should you find more information on the subject I would be pleased to here it be it either for or against the the origin being Stilton.

All the best - FS

Added - Letters/Biographies held by the RHS see http://www.rhs.ac.uk/bibl/dataset.asp for the following:

The letter book of John Warner 1678-1686 / Holt, Geoffrey, 1912-.  1984

Richard Bradley (c. 1688-1732) : an annotated bibliography, 1710-1818 / Edmondson, J.  2002

5Richard Bradley's illicit excursion into medical practice in 1714 / Egerton, F. N.  1970

6Richard Bradley's relationship with Sir Hans Sloane / Egerton, F. N.  1970

11The gentleman and farmer's guide for the increase and improvement of cattle, viz. : lambs, sheep, hogs, calves, cows, oxen / Bradley, Richard, 1688?-1732.  1729

12The riches of a hop garden explain'd / Bradley, Richard, 1688?-1732.  1729

13A Collection for the Improvement of Husbandry and Trade / Houghton, John, 1640-1705; Bradley, Richard, 1688?-1732.  1727-8

14A complete body of husbandry / Bradley, Richard, 1688?-1732.  1727

15The weekly miscellany for the improvement of husbandry / Bradley, Richard, 1688?-1732.  1727

16A survey of the ancient husbandry and gardening : collected from Cato, Varro, Columella, Virgil and others, the most eminent writers among the Greeks and Romans ... / Bradley, Richard, 1688?-1732.  1725

17A general treatise of husbandry and gardening. Containing such observations and experiments as are new and useful for the improvement of land. 3 vols. / Bradley, Richard, 1688?-1732.  1724

18The country gentleman and farmer's monthly director / Bradley, Richard, 1688?-1732.  1718

19New improvements of planting and gardening, both philosophical and practical, explaining the motion of the sap and generation of plants. 3 pts. / Bradley, Richard, 1688?-1732.  1717-18

It is my understanding that the RHS archive/library is accessible by any person with current RHS membership. If you do not have membership or access to a person with it then let me know.

Added : See The English Dairy Farmer 1500 - 1900 by George Edwin Fussell pages 223,224,225,226. It contains a description of 'New Milk' cheese which sounds close to the recipe reported by Bradley and dates to 1600 approx'. The method described would certainly lead to a very slow rate of production.

Page 247 contains an interesting rebuff to the attribution to Mrs Orton and also Guy Paget's attribution to the 5th Duchess of Rutland. ...oh and it can be found on Google Books

Added : Country Housewife and Ladies Director - Richard Bradley page 67 & 73 - This contains some of the references I have seen mentioned in the missing Thesis although none that refer to the period 1690-1710. I will keep looking.

Added : Last one for today - The Monthly Magazine 1800 page 462 contains some odd and oblique references that might be worth following up. If correct could put Stilton cheese origins to the reign of Elizabeth I.

[Kirwan]

You're right my interest isn't genealogical, that's why I put the title as Help solve etc.  I don't work for the Stilton Manufacturers...  Though I have made Stilton and Red Leicester too for that matter, the latter on a cheesemaking course in Reaseheath.  I ran a dept of animal sciences in Costa Rica including making cheese!!

I intend publishing shortly a piece on the origins of stilton cheese - and have been working on it pretty solidly now for about six months.  The Leicestershire bit I've pretty well got sussed, the huntingdon side is what I'm now completing, the huntingdon archives was very useful for that.

I know that some people in stilton eg Richard Landy are thinking about celebrating Cooper Thornhill's 250 anniversary on March 3rd including a new cover for his grave.

I thought of sending him the results of my research into cooper thornhill etc in time for the event.

I came across the Bradley stuff fairly early in my research and have most of his material copied onto my hard drive.  Hickman in his 'History of Stilton' gave it only a passing mention but I think the stuff is much more significant than that.

Unfortunately I'm not a member of the RHS so would be interested in accessing some of the books mentioned.  Fussell's english dairy farmer is on google as you say but some of the best bits appear to be unaccessible.

you refer to the Mrs Orton story - the bit about Orton's close is the bit that's rebutted not teh fact that she made the cheese - she was housekeeper to the Ashby's a Quenby Hall and learnt the cheese there.  One of the Ashby's wrote a letter confirming her selling cheese to cooper thornhill, who despite numerous citations did not have cheese making relatives in Leicestershire tho' he did have a leicestershire connection.

I can understand the desire of the Stilton people to claim 'stilton' as theirs, the roman cheese press may be useful evidence of cheese making in Stilton but stilton cheese isn't pressed.

I think my conclusions are moving towards the fact that cheese was made in the stilton area.  Blue cheese was made elsewhere eg in Leicestershire and near Nottingham (Bradley).  For some reason or other cheese made in the stilton area died out.  (There are references to this and indeed it hasn't been made there for years).  It could be that the Leicestershire originated cheese dominated the market and eliminated the Stilton.  What is not in dispute is the contribution Mrs Pawlett of Wymondham to the Stilton made today.  She probably changed it out of all recognition and its that cheese which we call Stilton today. 

Cooper Thornhill didn't need to go into Leicestershire to find cheese, they probably found him at least they were producing their variety of cheese before he ever arrived in Stilton.

There's a few good references to the collaboration between Thornhill and Pawlett - he marketing and she producing and its that which has made stilton what it is today.

Was the letter book of John Warner 1678-1686 / Holt, Geoffrey, 1912-.  1984 available on the RHS?  Let me know when you find 1690!

Couldn't find the monthly magazine 1880 reference

regards

Kirwan

[Framesmiths1816]

Dear Kirwan,

Ah, I thought their had to be another reason. I, and a number of others would be interested to see the finished book when it becomes available.

The RHS library is at Wisley and will require a special trip to visit and look at the references. That is not the easiest thing for me to do at the moment. It may be some weeks before I can get there.

I think in general it is a shame to have Stilton as a cheese making place written out of the history books when there is reasonable evidence to support the idea that a creamy cheese was made here. I agree that it was very unlikely to be the strong blue cheese that most people would associate as Stilton today. My personal preference is for White Stilton which I suppose is closer to the original. It seems clear that there was a Stilton being made famous circa 1700 and referenced by Bradley in 1721 and as you point out this does pre-date the 1730 claim. The Pitts statement supports this and has a ring of truth about it even though it is anecdotal. I am sure that Cooper-Thornhill, as a business man, would have recognised the need for a more steady supply for his customers and sort out makers of cheese to supplement or replace the local sources. It is clear the the process of cheese making needed extreme dedication to cleanliness and quality of materials to make a constantly good cheese. One thing that Bradley also implies is that the Bell was not the only place in Stilton making and selling the cheese. Only that the Bell's was the best. I know that Stilton had 13 public houses at one time although I cannot attribute a date to this. I cannot believe that the business opportunity afforded by the popularity and fame of Stilton Cheese would have been over looked by the local inn keepers and farmers and Cooper Thornhill is an example of this.

I am content that the fame of Stilton Cheese predates 1721 and without the acclaim that the local cheese created, there would have been no ready market for any version of Stilton made anywhere and to any recipe. The people of Stilton created a product, a brand, a market and a business. Others developed it, changed it, improved it, even to the extent of probably replacing the original.  That, I believe, is where the people of Stilton deserve some credit and where the history books tend to gloss over or deny Stilton's heritage. I hope your book might redress the balance.

Perhaps I can put a suggestion to you. I will send it to you in a private message (pm).

Google books can be very inconsistent!!!  The Monthly Magazine 1800 reference seems to have vanished. On the page I mentioned the was a reference to Shakespeare and Stilton Cheese. I though this might be of interest. I cannot find another reference to Shakespeare mentioning Stilton Cheese but he does often throw in odd references to places.

It is interesting that you are in contact with Rick. It is from him that the John Warner reference was passed to us although checking this morning there is a possibility it came from documents held at Cambridge University where Bradley was Professor of Botany, I think. Did you pass this information to Rick and am I going around in circles? The letter book is at the RHS although I am not entirely certain it is the same John Warner. There could be a mismatch on dates and occupation.

The roman cheese press is of course evidence of a local cheese making activity but not that it was anything like Stilton Cheese. As you say Stilton isn't pressed.  I would assume though that the open/unpressed nature of the cheese combined with variable conditions could naturally induce bluing in cheese if stored for long enough. It never seems to be mentioned but do you have an idea when the bluing became part of the desired process? You mention Paulet introducing needles although tradition indicates they were copper originally but Paulets needle reference was quite late on I think?

One thing that always puzzles me about the name/place of origin is the distance. Stilton was a coaching inn and rest place, indeed Isaac Newton's documents indicate he stayed in Stilton more than once in his travels between Woolthorpe and Cambridge (incidentally a contemporay of Bradley and at Camridge at the same time I think). As you say, if Cooper-Thornhill wanted a general local cheese he would not have needed to go as far as the Melton Mowbray area. Likewise the cheese makers of the Melton area did not need to go as far as Stilton to gain access to the great north road trade. Other places were closer, Wansford, Stamford, Granthan for example. Irrespective of who took what to whom (Cooper-Thornhill going to Quenby or Quenby coming to Cooper-Thornhill) It shouldn't be ruled out that Bradley's 1721 and 1725 publications of what appears to be an older recipe could have been the source of the 1730 Quenby Cheese. If we apply the premise "the simplest option is usually the correct one" then the fact that Quenby had a cheese and and Stilton had a reputable brand and a ready market. Perhaps Quenby's quality was more consistant and/or it was closer to the original in taste and texture. Cooper-Thornhill was a business man and we shouldn't under-estimate a business man's desire to buy and sell something that could turn a profit. Was Cooper-Thorhill a distributer? Was he the person that the London Market had to come to? Did he try to create and control a monopoly?

All the best - FS

[dcbnwh]

  I have recently discovered that my 5 x great aunt, Elizabeth Thorpe, and her husband, John Gibbs, kept the Bell Inn in Stilton from c1798-1815, having moved there from Market Deeping. John became bankrupt in 1815 when he was described as a Victualler, Cheesemonger, Dealer and Chapman.

  Elizabeth's father was John Thorpe and a person of the same name was the miller at Market Deeping. He seems to have married Mary Rouse in Long Clawson in 1719, where they had two children, before moving to Market Deeping.
  John Molecey, from the nearby West Deeping Mill, married Eleanor Rowse in Hose in 1756. I image that Mary Rouse and Eleanor Rowse were related but I have no definite information, although a descendant of each married in 1875.

I think that it is probably just a coincidence that the Thorpe name had links to Long Clawson and Stilton but quite interesting.

David

[stiltonhistorian]

ATB - FS

PS - The cheese room at the Bell was demolished in the early 1980's when the Bell underwent extensive modernization after standing derelict for a long time. It is debateable that the room was not big enough to make much cheese it. It was of some considerable age and was one of the few parts of the Bell  not to be rebuilt exaclty as it was using the all the original materials. It had a separate window and door that fronted onto North Street (the old A1/great North Road) and was, by tradition, the place where, in later years, Stilton Cheese was sold from to the passing public.

Added : Another quoted source : Bradley's Monthly Writings of 1721-2 contains references to the Letters of John Warner. This was a monthly Jornal/Magazine that started in 1721 and ceased in 1722 See http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/3215270

Cooper Thornhill also owned The Angel coaching inn opposite The Bell. He had vaults constructed to store the cheese there. So there would have been plenty of storage space. The vaults still exist