Picture from Brighton & Hove Council leaflet advertising Royal Pavilion exhibition [7 January 2001] on Dr Russell's Sea Water Cure
Dr Richard Russell's dissertation convinced other doctors and their patients that both drinking and bathing in (Brighton) sea-water provided treatment for many conditions, especially diseases of the glands. Dr Russell was particularly interested in the remedial effects of the iodine in sea-water. Rich Londoners often ate too much food and did not take enough exercise. The coastal resort of Brighton was one of the nearest beaches (just 6 hours from London by stagecoach) where they could get the form of hydrotherapy that Dr Russell recommended.
Access to the sea was provided by bathing machines, small boxes on wheels in which Dr Russell's patients were seated while bathing attendants transported them from the beach to the water.
Once the doctor's patients were surrounded by sea-water, dippers (for ladies) and bathers (for gentlemen) were employed to make sure that the patients' heads were dipped into the water. This provided jobs for people who had previously worked in the fishing trade. By 1790, Brighton had about twenty dippers and bathers. The practice began to die out at the end of the 19th century. Old pictures of the bathing machines on Brighton beach can be bought at the Royal Pavilion Gift Shops and may be found in books on sale at Sussex Stationers in East Street.
Brighton's most famous dipper was called Martha Gunn (1726-1815) while the most famous bather was John 'Smoaker' Miles (1720-1794). Both were friends of the Prince of Wales and both were buried in Saint Nicholas's Churchyard. Martha Gunn's grave can be found in the south-east corner of the churchyard. Her portrait (painted by John Russell) can be seen in the tea-room of the Royal Pavilion and her house is in central Brighton at 36 East Street - leading to the seafront.