George Millman and the Isle of Wight doughnut mystery

Were doughnuts invented on the Isle of Wight?

No one is quite sure, although the Island recipe developed independently of the Dutch version, olykoeks (oil-cakes), which have now become our popular doughnuts, so it’s possible the Isle of Wight got there first. As the Isle of Wight History Centre points out, they’re mentioned in The Queen’s Isle by Rosa Raine, published in 1861.

They were certainly a novelty to our family’s ancestor, George Millman, when he was courting Mary Hansford in Ventnor in the 1870s. In The Hansford Letters, in his reply to a comment in Mary’s letter, George asks:

I will give Mother & Father their message about the Cisly & Doenuts, what are these Doenuts dear are they good to eat? Or are they nuts made of iron with a sort of screw inside?

Whilst George knew that cicely was a sweet herb, often used with cooking rhubarb in Victorian times, ‘doenuts’ were still a mystery to him.

Isle of Wight doughnuts were different from our modern-day version in that the recipe contained plums, currants or orange peel mixed in to the dough before cooking, rather than using a plain dough with jam in the middle.

Mary clearly initiated George into enjoyment of the Island delicacy, referred to locally as ‘birds’ nests,’ while they were living in Ventnor for a year in 1881, with George working for Hansford Bros as a furniture salesman.

By the time George and Mary Millman brought their children on holiday back to the Isle of Wight in 1892, doughnuts were a firm family favourite. In his holiday diary in The Millman Letters, George describes a picnic at Steephill Cove:

As we sat to tea we had the company of 2 great dogs but they were well behaved sat down waited patiently until we gave them a titbit of Doe nut or bread & butter whilst sitting at tea, we saw the Steamer pass, which takes passengers right round the Island.

So if you’re having a holiday on the Isle of Wight, try this Island treat for a taste of Victorian times.