Marshall, Agnes Bertha (1855–1905), was among the foremost Victorian cookbook writers. Born in Walthamstow, Essex, she was one of the daughters of John Smith, a clerk, and his wife Susan. Her father died when she was young, and her mother remarried. Sadly, little is currently known of her education or where she learned to cook. The only clue to where she trained may be found in an 1886 interview of her husband in the Pall Mall Gazette: “I should tell you that Mrs. Marshall has made a thorough study of cookery since she was a child, and has practiced in Paris and Vienna with celebrated chefs.”
