Mary Rosa Alleyne Hunnings CBE (née Berry; born 24 March 1935), known professionally as Mary Berry, is a British food writer and television presenter. After being encouraged in domestic science classes at school, she studied catering and institutional management at college. She then moved to France at the age of 21 to study at Le Cordon Bleu school, before working in a number of cooking-related jobs.
She has published more than 75 cookery books including her bestselling Baking Bible in 2009. Her first book was The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook in 1970. She hosted several television series for the BBC and Thames Television. Berry is an occasional contributor to Woman's Hour and Saturday Kitchen. She was a judge on the BBC One (originally BBC Two) television programme The Great British Bake Off from its launch in 2010 until 2016.
Berry was born on 24 March 1935, the second of three children, to Margaret ('Marjorie', née Wilson; 1905–2011) and Alleyne William Steward Berry (1904–1989). Alleyne was a surveyor and planner who served as Mayor of Bath in 1952 and was closely involved in establishing the University of Bath at Claverton Down. Mary's great-great-grandfather on her father's side, Robert Houghton, was a master baker in the 1860s who provided bread for a local workhouse in Norwich. Her mother Marjorie was a housewife who, on occasion, helped Berry's father with bookkeeping. Her mother died in 2011 aged 105.