3 weeks ago
How Britons Learned Daily Bathing Habit from India
Long ago, most people in Britain did not take baths.
Queen Victoria did not have a bathroom in her big London house.
She washed using a small tub that servants filled with water.
Long ago, even kings hardly bathed, and people worried that water could make them sick.
When British people visited India, they saw that people there bathed every day, even in rivers.
The hot weather in India made daily baths feel necessary.
Some travellers, like the Duke of Wellington, kept that habit when they went home.
Slowly, more and more British people started bathing every day.
Bath houses opened, like the one run by Sake Dean Mahomed in Brighton.
Soon, almost every British home had a bathroom.
Buckingham Palace had no bathroom when Queen Victoria first occupied it in 1837, so she used a portable tub filled by servants.
Bathing was rare in Britain, with King John in 13th-century England bathing only about three times a year.
Englishmen in India, including the Duke of Wellington, adopted daily bathing and spread the habit after returning to Britain.
"Hindoo" Stuart, a Major General born in Ireland, bathed and prayed in the Hooghly every morning like a Hindu.
Sake Dean Mahomed of Patna opened a bath house in Brighton and patented 'shampooing', a medicated steam massage used by Kings George IV and William IV.
- Who
- Queen Victoria, Britons in the 19th century, and travellers returning from India such as the Duke of Wellington, "Hindoo" Stuart and Sake Dean Mahomed.
- What
- Britons gradually adopted daily bathing, a habit they learned from people in colonial India.
- Where
- Britain and colonial India, including London, Brighton and Patna.
- When
- Largely the 19th century, beginning around Queen Victoria's accession in 1837.
- Why
- India's sweltering heat made daily bathing a necessity for Britons there, and returning travellers spread the habit across Britain.
Key facts
- Queen Victoria's accession
- 1837
- Buckingham Palace first sovereign occupancy
- 1837
- King John's bathing frequency (13th century)
- About three times a year
- Etiquette manual discouraging washing with water
- 1782
- "Hindoo" Stuart's birthplace and birth year
- Ireland, 1757
- Sake Dean Mahomed's origin
- Patna, India
- Mahomed's bath house location
- Brighton
- Origin of 'shampooing'
- Hindi 'champi', meaning to massage
Sources
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