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Colloque de la S.F.E.V.E., université François-Rabelais, Tours (20 et 21 janvier 2006) : « A sense of Belonging/Le sentiment d'appartenance »

Early Swimming Clubs: A Question of Class

Win Hayes

Résumé

The early swimming clubs during the Victorian period met the varying needs of a range of different groups within society at the time. The groups associated with the different types of clubs include firstly the upper and middle classes. They needed to belong to leisure organisations that both met their requirements for sport or physical activity and also allowed them to meet other social needs in relation to their leisure being distinctive and maintaining their class position and separation from the lower classes. The second group contains two sub groups: the upper middle class managers or owners of factories and secondly the allied groups of those involved in the running of organisations aiming to attract large memberships such as churches. Both these groups sought leisure activity for their employees or members that served as an attraction and incentive to attendance and also that was likely to have positive outcomes in relation to education, health and general behaviour. The third group are the working class individuals who sought leisure activity that was inexpensive, easy to access, provided some form of entertainment and provided respite from the constant effort of work and the harsh living conditions that many of them endured.

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Texte intégral

1This paper will examine how the early swimming clubs during the Victorian period met the varying needs of a range of different groups within society at the time. Three different types of swimming clubs that met the needs of the different groups within society will be examined. The groups associated with the different types of clubs include firstly the upper and middle classes. They needed to belong to leisure organisations that both met their requirements for sport or physical activity and also allowed them to meet other social needs in relation to their leisure being distinctive and maintaining their class position and separation from the lower classes. The second group contains two sub-groups. These are firstly the upper middle class managers or owners of factories or other enterprises with large numbers of employees and secondly the allied groups of those involved in the running of organisations aiming to attract large memberships such as churches. Both these groups sought a leisure activity for their employees or members that served as an attraction and incentive to attendance and also that was likely to have positive outcomes in relation to education, health and general behaviour. The third group are the working class individuals who sought leisure activity that was inexpensive, easy to access, provided some form of entertainment and provided respite from the constant effort of work and the harsh living conditions that many of them endured.

  • 1 DIY = ‘Do it yourself’ relates to general maintenance around the house such as the painting and wal (...)
  • 2 The Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St Andrews. The R and A which takes its name from the club is th (...)

2As human beings we have need for a sense of identity. It clarifies both for ourselves and to others who we are, where we come from, what we do and what we believe in. One element or individual activity that forms part of that identity is the leisure time pursuits and organisations we are involved in. These can be cultural pursuits such as reading and theatre, domestic pursuits such as DIY1 or gardening or sporting pursuits. Looking at the area of sporting pursuits in more detail this may include several categories of involvement. Examples are activities such as being ‘a fitness fanatic’, being a football supporter or being a playing member of a golf club. In other words this can include what activity the individual actually participates in or what sport or team they are interested in and support or can identify what club or organisation they actually belong to. It can be active or passive involvement; the playing of the sport, the administration or coaching of a sport, going to watch live sports matches and spectacles or staying at home watching sport on the television. It can be the purchasing of items of clothing or sports gear that are associated with the club or team such as replica team strips or scarves that identify the wearer with the club or team. The individual can be a member of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club2 in order to play and improve their golf or they can be a member of Manchester United Supporters club in order to follow their favourite team to matches and get information on players or they can simply wear the scarf, watch the team on the television and discuss the players and matches with colleagues at work and friends in the pub. Whatever the nature or level of involvement they identify themselves with the activity, team or club. That association or belonging to that ‘group’ provides part of the individual’s sense of identity. The development of a sense of identity associated with sport occurs over time as the individual becomes more immersed in and familiar with the sport or physical activity involved. Horne, Tomlinson and Whannel outline the processes involved:

  • 3 J. Horne, A. Tomlinson, and G. Whannel, Understanding Sport: An Introduction to the Sociological an (...)

Identity formation related to sports participation occurs over time and depends upon a number of processes including the acquisition of knowledge about a sport, being associated with a group, learning the values and perspectives of the sport group, and earning the acceptance of those in the group so that one’s identity as a participant is affirmed and reaffirmed over time.3

  • 4 Pierre Bourdieu (1978) cited in Frank Kew (1997) Sport: Social Problems and Issues (London: Butterw (...)
  • 5 Swimming, as it can be performed at your chosen level of effort, can be done throughout life even w (...)
  • 6 1846 Baths and Washhouses Act and its successive amendments were permissive legislation that allowe (...)

3People seek a sense of belonging and identity through pursuing activities or having membership of such organisations because of the cultural capital acquired through association with the activity or the membership. The individual feels that they achieve distinction, respect and admiration from those whose opinions they value due to that activity, the people involved in it, or some characteristic associated with the activity, being valued within their group and by others. Much of this wish to belong and adherence to an activity or organisation is based on cultural values associated with class. Bourdieu suggests that sport is an ‘objectively instituted field of stylistic possibles’4 as it offers a range of distinctive features which allow individuals to express social differences. Swimming certainly has many of the features, such as being an individual sport, being possible at your chosen level of effort and ‘ageing well,’5 which Bourdieu identifies as being among those features common in the sports chosen by the upper or dominant classes. However due to the diversity of the activity of swimming it can also be pursued in ways that offer the features of activity that would be appealing to the lower classes. These would include that it can be participated in with maximum effort both in training and also in competition and that it can be a team game in the form of water polo. Volume and intensity of effort and acceptance of the group discipline of a team game are features that Bourdieu identifies in activities pursued by the working classes. Participation in swimming activity can achieve instant results in relation to cleanliness and refreshing the body which in the Victorian period was hard to come by for many of the working classes due to their poor living conditions. The immediacy of results is one of the features that Bourdieu identifies as desirable in an activity in order to appeal to the working classes. Cleanliness of the working classes was one of the prime motivations behind the 1846 Baths and Washhouses Act6 and the establishment of the early baths and washhouses. Thus the activity of swimming in its various forms appears to have a diversity of experiences of varying natures to offer the participant and thus in terms of cultural capital, would seem to have the potential to appeal to all classes in some form or other.

  • 7 J. Walvin, Leisure and Society 1830-1950 (London: Longman, 1978) 69.

4Looking at the activity of swimming historically, the bathing at the spas was a class-based activity due to the costs involved. The aristocracy clearly followed the lead of royalty in selecting spa bathing as a leisure time pursuit. The patronage of both the Prince of Wales and his father George III assured that the spas were popular with the upper classes and those aspiring to emulate them. This trend is confirmed by Walvin: ‘The consequent growth of the spa towns was encouraged by fashionable and medical usage, but more especially by royal and aristocratic patronage.’7

  • 8 A print held in Brighton Picture Library (Image no. 00169) shows Brighton Chain Pier and Beach with (...)
  • 9 Tom Wood (2003) «From Holy days to Holidays,» Practical Family History no. 70 (October 2003): 17.

5However the defection of royalty from the spas to the seaside in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century moved the main focus away from the spas. The culture of seaside bathing enjoyed a period of growth in the early and mid-nineteenth century firstly due to its patronage by royalty and then later due to the development of the railways. George II regularly went to Weymouth and George IV, when Prince of Wales, went to Brighton. Likewise, when seaside bathing and going to the seaside for a holiday was taken up by William IV8 for his health, the aristocracy followed and many of the great seaside resorts began to get firmly established and increase their facilities. Only the upper classes had the means and the time to get to places such as Brighton and Worthing, thus it was a pursuit that was distinctive and which distinguished them from the masses which was something they desired. Around the middle of the nineteenth century, with the advent of trains making day trip visits to the seaside a possibility, the masses started to arrive at resorts such as Brighton which were within reasonable distance of London. The day trips to seaside resorts, which were often organised by church groups, employers and also commercial entrepreneurs, started as early as 1840. Thomas Cook, a Baptist minister and book seller, was inspired to use trains to move large groups of the temperance society to more distant meetings. It was not long before he realised that there was significant profit to be made in moving people for pleasurable excursions to the seaside and other destinations, and thus he started the Thomas Cook Travel Company. The railway between London and Brighton, which opened in 1840, had six trains a day in 1841 and continued to increase the flow of people to the coast until ‘In 1846 one train carried 4,000 people and by 1859 Brighton’s seaside amusements and attractions lured 73,000 holidaymakers there in just one week.’9

  • 10 P. Bourdieu (1885) cited in Frank Kew (1997) Sport: Social Problems and Issues (London: Butterworth (...)

6The mid 1840s saw the railway reach many seaside resorts. This included Scarborough in 1845, Blackpool and Lytham in 1846, and Rhyl and other resorts of the north Wales coast in 1850. Resorts, such as Blackpool and Southend, became very much the less expensive end of the resort trade. Blackpool, which had started out as a destination for respectable families, by the late 1860s when the south pier opened, had moved to accommodate the entertainment tastes of the working classes. The concept of social distinction as explained by Bourdieu10 shows that the elements of the selective location regarding where activities are pursued, the possibility of free choice of partners with whom to pursue activities, together with the physical requirements of the activity determined, to a great extent, whether an activity was favoured by the upper classes or not. Once the masses arrived at locations such as Brighton it was no longer exclusive and the participants no longer selected from the upper classes. The seaside was thus no longer a place of distinction and the upper classes left to pursue their leisure elsewhere.

7In the mid and late nineteenth century, swimming moved from the outdoors to the indoors following the opening of the public baths and washhouses. This move was highly desirable for those wishing to swim due to the polluted rivers that had resulted from the expanding industry in the period but was not brought about in order to further swimming activity. The baths were built to combat the poor levels of cleanliness and associated health issues that existed due to the lack of running water or sanitation in the majority of the houses of the working classes. As such pools or baths, as they were called at the time, were built with the poor and with cleanliness in mind and as they were in no way exclusive, being frequented by the working class masses, they were not of interest to the upper and upper middle classes. The upper and upper middle classes had however developed a taste for swimming activity through their visits to the seaside. From the mid-nineteenth century there were constant attempts around the country to start public baths. Over the second half of the nineteenth century, following the Baths and Washhouses Act of 1846 in England and the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act of 1892 in Scotland, the number of baths increased. Some towns started to build baths much before others but effective as such baths were in providing facilities for both washing and swimming, they were relatively slow to spread. As the nineteenth century advanced they were still limited in number and due to the limitations of the technology available they were neither very clean nor very warm. Many operated on the ‘fill and empty’ principle due to lack of technology for constant circulation and filtration. Thus the water became dirtier over a period of about two days of use after which it was then emptied out and the pool refilled. The general dirt element of the water was compounded by the fact that they had difficulty persuading the public to wash before swimming as they saw it as a way to get clean rather than something that you got clean in order to do. The experience of these early public baths conditions combined with the fact that they were frequented by the working classes, plus the fact that the majority of the male bathers swam naked and the time or sessions for women were very limited, meant that the upper classes and the better off middle classes did not want to associate themselves with them. In addition to lacking the concept of an exclusive location they also lacked the element of choice of whom you participated with. In areas of Scotland, such as Edinburgh and Glasgow, where the legislation regarding public baths was later in coming in and thus the development of public baths slower, the experience of the existing baths, that were not public in the sense of publicly funded but were privately funded but open to the public, was similar. The lack of cleanliness in the baths and lack of service combined with the issue of having to mix with the lower classes in their leisure time was sufficiently undesirable to prompt those with financial means to start establishing Private Baths Clubs using funds supplied by local businessmen and the well-off of the district. Thus while local councils across the country were discussing establishing public pools, in some cases rather slowly, the upper classes moved to build their own private baths clubs. Such was their motivation that in Scotland, where legislation to provide public baths was particularly slow to come about, Glasgow had two private Baths Clubs several years before the first public facility opened. Arlington Baths Club opened in 1870 some 8 years before any public baths opened and Western Baths Club opened in 1875 some 5 years before the first public baths at Greenhead opened in 1878. Edinburgh had Drumsheugh Baths Club in 1882 a full 5 years before the first public baths opened in 1887 the same year as the second private club, Warrender Baths Club opened. Many towns across Britain also had private Turkish baths, some of which had small pools included. All the private baths that were established had significantly better facilities and services than the equivalent public baths facilities. For their members, even more importantly, they did not involve them mixing with the lower classes. These private baths facilities offered more than just the bathing/swimming facility. They had swings, rings and trapezes suspended above the water which provided great exercise and entertainment for the members. Such baths clubs were generally well-constructed and equipped and had greater levels of staffing to clean, provide towels and generally wait on the members. In addition they also had reading, smoking and social rooms so that it effectively was a club where they could exercise and socialise with people of similar social standing. While well-used for their swimming facilities their main attraction was their private club environment and their exclusivity. Membership of such a private club was an element of identity and was clearly distinct from the leisure of the masses. Membership was something that established their identity as belonging to the more affluent and exclusive section of society.

8As public baths opened in England and later on in Scotland and attracted ever growing numbers of the working classes they generally became the home of one, or frequently more, swimming club. In addition, where there were no baths or where members preferred the outdoor elements, swimming clubs still operated in open water situations at least for part of the year. These clubs, whether indoor or outdoor, were membership based but at a very modest cost. They were performance-based clubs that focussed on improving the swimming ability of their members and providing a forum for local and national competition. In the third quarter of the nineteenth century they involved a mixture of amateur and professional swimmers with the professional swimmers competing for prize money as opposed to the glory of winning and a medal. The professional swimmer, in addition to racing, was often the resident expert that taught swimming at the baths and often also performed various feats during the entertainments. The entertainments, which attracted large numbers of spectators, in addition to races also included mock drownings and demonstrations of lifesaving, comic sketches, trick swimming and ‘duck’ hunts. In the 1860s and 1870s the role of the professional as the teacher and promoter of swimming within the early clubs is highlighted by Dudgeon:

  • 11 R. E. Dudgeon, Swimming Baths of London (London: Henry Turner, 1870) 23.

Almost all the swimming baths are the headquarters of one or more swimming clubs, which generally have one night per week for their meetings and practisings. With few exceptions they all have attached to them a professional swimmer, in most cases one of the baths attendants who teaches swimming to beginners and coaches aspirants after prizes in that extraordinary mode of rapid swimming adapted by the London aquatic athletes, in plunging, in picking up eggs from the bottom of the bath and equally useless feats.11

9The competitive events were well promoted and recorded in the specialist press. Almost all accounts of events record great spectator interest:

  • 12 The Swimming Record and Chronicle of Sporting Events. Vol. 1, no. 6 (14th June 1783): 3.

Zephyr Club. . . Before a large assemblage of spectators and friends: Regent Club. . . A large assemblage of this club’s members and friends patronised King-street Baths: North London Club. . . The members and friends of this institution numerously assembled on Tuesday evening. . . 12(3 extracts from the one page of the weekly swimming paper)

10The press records are also testament to the support that such events received from the local council:

  • 13 The Swimming Record and Chronicle of Sporting Events. Vol. 1, no. 5 (7th June 1873): 2.

On Thursday evening May 29th, the Everton Swimming Association celebrated their first gala of the season in the above baths, amidst a large and highly-influential assemblage of spectators. Councillor Joseph Harrison Esq. occupied the chair accompanied by Councillor Edward Whitley.13

11These events which took place on weekday evenings and thus did not clash with other weekend sporting events such as football, took place locally and in relatively warm and comfortable surroundings were clearly of interest to fairly large numbers of spectators. The clubs at these baths thus provided an opportunity for belonging and for developing a sense of identity for their members as swimmers and performers and also for others as spectators. The coverage of the press builds the profile of the performers through its descriptions of the people and the skill involved and the success of the events. It also emphasises the popularity of the activity and gives it status through its references to the numbers present and the status of some of those attending. Such aspects of an activity’s profile aid in building the cultural capital associated with it to its participants and members.

  • 14 Minute Book No 1. 1869-1873. Meeting of 7th January 1869, p. 1. (This association was called the As (...)
  • 15 Minute Book 1, 7th January 1869, p. 1.
  • 16 Minute Book 1, 11 February 1869, p. 2.
  • 17 A. Sinclair and W. Henry (1893), p. 335-336.

12In the early days before there was any real control from a governing body of the sport, the fact that there was also betting on the swimming events added another dimension and excitement to the event. The dimension of betting on the racing was one aspect of the early sport that the middle classes did not approve of the working classes indulging in. As the century advanced the middle classes, in an attempt to promote a sport that was a form of rational recreation and that had the attributes of honour, discipline and fair play, which they so valued and which had been a major element in the promotion of sport generally in the English Public Schools, worked to establish the amateur code within the swimming world. However in the early years of the national governing body following its formation in January 1869, at the German Gymnasium at Kings Cross in London,14 there was little emphasis on amateurism. The text in the early minutes’ book, makes no reference to ‘amateur’ during the minutes of the founding meeting15 nor during the subsequent meeting which ratified the rules of the association.16 On February 11, 1869 the committee, set up to formulate a code of practice, reported and within their original rules, although not recorded in the minute of the meeting, they provided a definition of an amateur. According to Sinclair and Henry the definition of an amateur was expressed in terms of who was not eligible to compete as an amateur: ‘Persons who have competed for money prizes, for wagers, for public or admission money, or who have otherwise made the art of swimming a means of pecuniary profit shall not be allowed to compete as amateurs.’17

  • 18 The Swimmer, vol 1. no. 5 (1st April 1886): 45.

13Thus at the end of the 1860s the groundwork for swimming becoming amateur had been set although at that stage the move was neither strong nor particularly convincing. Only a small number of swimming clubs were affiliated to the association, many more were outside it and only limited numbers of organisers or participants fully understood the amateur ideal or its constraints and were committed to pursuing it. Such uncertainty was compounded by the association itself who for over fifteen years did not really enforce the amateur law that they actually wanted. Only when the association was on the verge of falling apart in the early 1880s did they restructure, bring all the disparate groups back together and stand firm on amateur law. The hold of the renamed Amateur Swimming Association over the nature of swimming club activity from 1886 onwards grew very fast as its membership increased rapidly; it took control over racing, took a stand against betting and enforced the amateur laws strictly. The Swimmer Magazine of April 1886 acknowledged that the world of amateur swimming was run by the middle classes. When in discussion of the difficulties of committee members getting to the Association meetings it states that the middle classes are ‘the backbone of every stable institution.’18 Thus for the last ten years or so of the nineteenth century club swimming for the masses, based in the public baths, was amateur in nature but was essentially governed and moulded by the middle classes into a form that they felt was appropriate for the working classes.

  • 19 The Swimmer, vol. 1, no. 9. (1st May1886): 87.
  • 20 The Swimmer, vol. 1, no. 3. (1st March 1886): 25.
  • 21 The Swimmer, vol. 1, no. 12. (22nd May 1886): 110.
  • 22 Ibidem, 110.
  • 23 Ibidem, 105.
  • 24 Water football was the name used for early beginning of water polo.

14The other form of swimming club that became established in the late Victorian period, once there were adequate numbers of public baths in and around the major towns and cities, was the works or factory swimming club. In these cases the clubs were supported and mainly funded by the large employers. Villafield Club which was for employees of Blackies Printing and Publishing,19 Trounce Amateur which was for the employees of Islington Gazette,20 Camden Works which was for the employees of the big playing card manufacturer Goodall and Sons21 and Causton’s for the employees of Sir Joseph Causton22 are just a few examples from the extensive amount of such provision that existed by the late Victorian period. Other large national organisations such as the civil service and the police also had active swimming clubs as early as the 1880s. This concept of employer provision of leisure activity was not exclusive to swimming or even to sporting activity but included other activities such as the works brass band. These were supported and funded by the employer with the intention of increasing the loyalty, cohesion and sense of identity of their workforce. The employees then not only worked together but also pursued activity such as football or swimming in their leisure time together and competed for the company team developing pride and competitive loyalty to their team and thus to their employer. This aspect of identifying with and developing loyalty to an organisation was an aspect that was not only developed by employers but also by organisations such as the church. In these cases not only worship was encouraged but as a worshipper individuals were entitled to participation in other activities. These were activities thought to be beneficial educationally, morally or physically and which it was hoped would serve as an enticement to attend and would help to mould the group into a loyal following held together by their sense of belonging to the same team that was supported and encouraged by the church. The St Clair Club23 which was for members of the Adelaide Place Baptist Church in Glasgow was a very active example of this and a club which pursued not only swimming competition but also water football24 and provided instruction in resuscitation and lifesaving. Thus both employers and other organisations such as churches and, at a later stage, schools used sport to develop group cohesion, sense of loyalty and belonging. All such organisations were owned, managed or led by the middle classes who were effectively making provision for leisure activity that they approved of. These were activities which they thought would serve the functions of ensuring loyalty, keeping the workers occupied in rational and beneficial activity and by so doing keep them away from less desirable pursuits and fit for work. The concept of belonging to an organisation that was willing to make such provision came over as a bonus, an extra. Such activity, provided for at little or no cost to the employee was clearly appealing as apart from the minimising of the cost of recreational activity it would be based locally and thus easily accessible. Belonging to the organisation brought benefits of being able to belong to other groups which in turn allowed participation and competition. When they won in competition this gave a sense of individual pride and achievement but also served to reinforce group and corporate identity.

15In conclusion swimming clubs during the Victorian period were very much associated with identity and the sense of identity that the individual obtained from belonging to one. Whether it was the upper and middle classes in their private baths clubs, the members of amateur swimming clubs based in public baths or the members of works organisation clubs endeavouring to provide out of work hours activity for their employees, the activity and its clubs served to meet several needs. All three types of swimming clubs provided the participants with not only the physical activity of swimming in various contexts and forms but also a sense of belonging to an organisation that provided them with a certain sense of identity with a group appropriate to their class, situation and needs. In the case of the private baths clubs this allowed the members that sense of belonging to an exclusive organisation and clearly separated them from the working class masses. It provided that exclusive place where the others attending were of a similar status to them and where they could participate in swimming in the form they wished and also have other social opportunities. The swimming club in the public baths, which had members at much lower costs than the private clubs, firstly offered the opportunity to improve swimming skills and compete against others thus developing their own identity and being part of an identifiable group. It also offered to others, who were not members, the opportunity to identify with the club through supporting and spectating. In the case of the works, church or factory swimming clubs the working classes had the opportunity at minimal cost to participate or support the club. Thus their identification with the firm and their loyalty, through identifying with and supporting the team, would be greater. Both the clubs in the public baths and the works clubs were, mainly, run by the middle classes and used the activity to encourage the working class masses into desirable ways of behaving. All forms of swimming clubs can thus be seen firstly as providing groups to which individuals could belong and the individual with a sense of identity and seen secondly as the dominant class either maintaining their own exclusivity and distinctiveness or controlling and developing the leisure activity of the working classes along lines that they felt appropriate.

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Bibliographie

Bourdieu, P. (1978) cited in Frank Kew Sport: Social Problems and Issues. London: Butterworth and Heinemann. 1997.

Dudgeon, R. E. Swimming Baths of London. London: Henry Turner. 1870.

Horne, J., Tomlinson, A. and Whannel, G. (1999) Understanding Sport: An Introduction to the Sociological and Cultural Analysis of Sport. London: F. and N. Spon.

Horne, J., A Tomlinson, and G. Whannel. Minute Book no. 1, 1869–1873. 7th January 1869. 1999.

Horne, J., A Tomlinson, and G. Whannel. Minute Book no. 1, 1869–1873. 11th February 1869. 1999.

Sinclair, A., and W. Henry. Swimming. The Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes. London: Longmans, Green and Co. 1893.

Walvin, J. (1978) Leisure and Society 1830–1950. London: Longman.

Walvin, J. The Swimmer: A Journal Devoted to Natation. 1st March 1886. Vol. 1, no. 3.

Walvin, J. The Swimmer: A Journal Devoted to Natation. 1st April 1886. Vol. 1, no. 5.

Walvin, J. The Swimmer: A Journal Devoted to Natation. 1st May1886. Vol. 1, no. 9.

Walvin, J. The Swimmer: A Journal Devoted to Natation. 22nd May 1886. Vol. 1, no. 12.

Walvin, J. The Swimming Record and Chronicle of Sporting Events. 7th June 1873. Vol. 1, no. 5.

Walvin, J. The Swimming Record and Chronicle of Sporting Events. 14th June 1783. Vol. 1, no. 6.

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Notes

1 DIY = ‘Do it yourself’ relates to general maintenance around the house such as the painting and wallpapering of rooms, woodwork etc.

2 The Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St Andrews. The R and A which takes its name from the club is the body that makes the rules controlling golf.

3 J. Horne, A. Tomlinson, and G. Whannel, Understanding Sport: An Introduction to the Sociological and Cultural Analysis of Sport. (London: F. and N. Spon, 1999) 140.

4 Pierre Bourdieu (1978) cited in Frank Kew (1997) Sport: Social Problems and Issues (London: Butterworth and Heinemann) 152.

5 Swimming, as it can be performed at your chosen level of effort, can be done throughout life even when quite elderly and physical resources are decreasing.

6 1846 Baths and Washhouses Act and its successive amendments were permissive legislation that allowed local authorities to use public money to provide baths and washhouses including swimming facilities.

7 J. Walvin, Leisure and Society 1830-1950 (London: Longman, 1978) 69.

8 A print held in Brighton Picture Library (Image no. 00169) shows Brighton Chain Pier and Beach with a cameo of George IV and William IV to reinforce the royal links with the town.

9 Tom Wood (2003) «From Holy days to Holidays,» Practical Family History no. 70 (October 2003): 17.

10 P. Bourdieu (1885) cited in Frank Kew (1997) Sport: Social Problems and Issues (London: Butterworth and Heinemann) 155.

11 R. E. Dudgeon, Swimming Baths of London (London: Henry Turner, 1870) 23.

12 The Swimming Record and Chronicle of Sporting Events. Vol. 1, no. 6 (14th June 1783): 3.

13 The Swimming Record and Chronicle of Sporting Events. Vol. 1, no. 5 (7th June 1873): 2.

14 Minute Book No 1. 1869-1873. Meeting of 7th January 1869, p. 1. (This association was called the Associated Metropolitan Swimming Clubs).

15 Minute Book 1, 7th January 1869, p. 1.

16 Minute Book 1, 11 February 1869, p. 2.

17 A. Sinclair and W. Henry (1893), p. 335-336.

18 The Swimmer, vol 1. no. 5 (1st April 1886): 45.

19 The Swimmer, vol. 1, no. 9. (1st May1886): 87.

20 The Swimmer, vol. 1, no. 3. (1st March 1886): 25.

21 The Swimmer, vol. 1, no. 12. (22nd May 1886): 110.

22 Ibidem, 110.

23 Ibidem, 105.

24 Water football was the name used for early beginning of water polo.

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Win Hayes, « Early Swimming Clubs: A Question of Class »Cahiers victoriens et édouardiens [En ligne], 67 Printemps | 2008, mis en ligne le 06 novembre 2020, consulté le 28 mars 2024. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/cve/7917 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/cve.7917

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Auteur

Win Hayes

University of Edinburgh

Win HAYES teaches Sociology of Sport in the Department of Physical Education, Sport and Leisure Studies at the University of Edinburgh. She has worked extensively with agencies involved with Voluntary Sector Sport, in particular with swimming both in England and Scotland. Current research is in the area of the history of swimming in Britain before 1914 and in particular the history of learning to swim in Scotland.

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