Una Carter
New Zealand cooking teacher, demonstrator and writer.
Una Isabel Carter, born in 1890 near Marton, New Zealand, became a well-known cooking teacher and writer. Her mother, a celebrated local cook, taught her daughters thoroughly. Carter launched her own Wellington cookery school in 1913, then started weekly demonstrations for the Wellington Gas Company. Her first recipe collection, Home made sweets, came out in 1917. The following year she published The National Cookery Book, which grew from 400 to 800 recipes and saw many reprints. She donated all royalties to a Wellington school. Carter married in 1924 and later moved to Auckland, but returned to Wellington after her husband's death. She continued demonstrating, including during wartime, and died in London in 1954.
Quick Facts
- Born
- 20 August 1890
- Birthplace
- near Marton, New Zealand
- Died
- 14 October 1954 (aged 64)
- Place of death
- London, England
- Known for
- Author of best-selling cookbook, demonstration cook
Facts from the source article.
Career and professional life
In 1913, Carter opened her own cookery school in Willis Street, Wellington. The school offered classes several times a week for a variety of ability levels, including Saturday morning classes for children. Soon after, the Wellington Gas Company hired Carter to give weekly cooking demonstrations in their showroom, to show the benefits of using gas for home cooking. Her demonstrations covered a wide variety of food, meals and techniques, and were noted for their usefulness, practical tips and Carter's own style—friendly and informative.
In addition, she provided cooking demonstrations at the annual Wellington Show, judged cooking competitions, and toured New Zealand and Australia with cooking shows. In 1918, she published The National Cookery Book, a collection of 400 recipes. It was so popular it was expanded to 800 recipes, re-published in 1922, and subsequently reprinted eleven times. All royalties from this book were donated by Carter to St Mark's Church School in Wellington.
She also self-published a smaller book, Home made sweets, in 1917, in which she encouraged New Zealand women to make sweets and send them to soldiers fighting overseas as a comfort gift. The book was highly popular and went into three editions.
Later life
Carter married Albert (Bert) Stanley in 1924 and moved to Remuera, Auckland. Companies began to hire her to write recipes to promote their products. In the early 1930s, she was hired by Ellis and Manton Ltd of Wellington to write a leaflet of recipes using their products that was distributed free to customers. The leaflet was promoted with the words 'All recipes tested by Miss Una Carter, expert cooking demonstrator'.
Lea & Perrins and Champion Flour similarly hired her to recommend their products in recipes used for advertising—the flour company included two free 'Una Carter Recipe Cards' in every bag of flour. From July 1931, she is referred to in newspaper notices as 'Una Carter, Gold Medallist', however it is unclear the source of the award. On Stanley's death, Carter returned to Wellington and enjoyed retirement teaching cooking to her nieces and nephews.
She also returned to demonstration cooking, giving demonstrations again for the Wellington Gas Company from 1936 and at the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition in 1940. During World War II the Women's War Service Auxiliary arranged for Carter to give demonstrations focusing on cooking during the war-time shortages. Carter went to live in England in the early 1950s and died in London on 14 October 1954.
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