Episode 119: The Thing About Sea-bathing

Everyone loves a good trip to the seaside. Everyone, that is, except Mr. Woodhouse. This episode we take a deep dive into the practice of sea-bathing in Jane Austen’s time.

William Heath, “Mermaids at Brighton” c. 1829, hand-coloured etching.

If you have ever used your favorite apothecary as your anti-seaside scapegoat, this episode is for you.

“Ah! my dear, but Perry had many doubts about the sea doing her any good; and as to myself, I have been long perfectly convinced, though perhaps I never told you so before, that the sea is very rarely of use to any body. I am sure it almost killed me once.”

—Mr. Woodhouse

Selected Sources:

• Austen, Jane. Jane Austen’s Letters. 4th ed. Edited by Deirdre Le Faye. Oxford University Press, 2011.

• Buchan, Alexander Peter. A Treatise on Sea Bathing: With Remarks on the Use of the Warm Bath. T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1810.

• Byrne, Paula. The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things. Harper Perennial, 2014.

• Cunnington, Cecil Willett, and Phillis Emily Cunnington. Handbook of English Costume in the Eighteenth Century. Boston, Plays, 1972. http://archive.org/details/handbookofenglis00cunn.

• Darcy, Jane. “Jane Austen’s Sanditon, Doctors, and the Rise of Seabathing.” Persuasions On-Line 38, no. 2 (n.d.). Accessed August 6, 2024. https://jasna.org/publications-2/persuasions-online/volume-38-no-2/darcy/.

• Feltham, John. A Guide to All the Watering and Sea-Bathing Places; with a Description of the Lakes; a Sketch of a Tour in Wales; and Itineraries. London : R. Phillips, 1806. http://archive.org/details/b22030372.

• Jones, Hazel. Jane Austen’s Journeys. Robert Hale, 2014.

• Lane, Maggie. Jane Austen’s England. Hale, 1996.

• Le Faye, Deirdre. Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels. Frances Lincoln, 2003.

• Mortimer, Ian. The Time Traveler’s Guide to Regency Britain: A Handbook for Visitors to 1789-1830. Pegasus Books, 2023.

• Richards, Andrea. “Bathing - Jane Austen at the Seaside.” Jane Austen Society of Australia, December 1, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131201050326/http://www.jasa.net.au/seaside/Bathing.htm.

• Russell, Richard. A Dissertation Concerning the Use of Sea Water in Diseases of the Glands, &c. to Which Is Added An Epistolary Dissertation to R. Frewin, M.D. Oxford, 1753. http://archive.org/details/dissertationconc00russ.

• Smollett, Tobias. The Expedition of Humphry Clinker. Project Gutenberg. 1771. https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2160/pg2160-images.html.

• Southam, Brian C. “Jane Austen beside the Seaside: An Introduction.” Persuasions 32 (2010).

• Southam, Brian C. “Jane Austen beside the Seaside: Devonshire and Wales 1801–1803.” Persuasions 33 (2011): 125–47.

• Sutherland, Eileen. “‘A Little Sea-Bathing Would Set Me up Forever’: The History and Development of the English Seaside Resorts.” Persuasions 19 (1997): 60–76.

• Tomalin, Claire. Jane Austen: A Life. Vintage Books, 1999.

• Walton, John K. The English Seaside Resort: A Social History, 1750-1914. Leicester University Press, 1983. http://archive.org/details/englishseasidere0000walt.

• Wilkes, Sue. A Visitor’s Guide to Jane Austen’s England. Pen & Sword History, 2014.

• Worsley, Lucy. Jane Austen at Home. St. Martin’s Press, 2017.

Other Relevant Episodes

• Episode 19: The Thing About London Air with guest Dr. Rena Jones

• Episode 23: The Thing About Circulating Libraries

• Episode 30: The Thing About Lydia’s Trip to Brighton

• Episode 45: The Thing About Weymouth

• Episode 52: The Thing About Bath’s Baths