London Swimming Professors: Victorian Craftsmen and Aquatic Entrepreneurs

Abstract

As sporting opportunities expanded during the eighteenth century, a number of individuals made a living from exploiting their skills, initially as competitors and later as instructors. Subsequent practitioners invariably drew from, and elaborated on, these existing practices, ensuring a degree of consistency both in how such knowledge was transmitted and in how it was subsequently sustained and developed. The key elements of this process were the linking of oral traditions to personal experience, the ongoing existence of a body of craft knowledge operating within communities of practice and an ability to innovate and apply entrepreneurial skills. The sporting context which provided a framework for these practices altered during the nineteenth century, was influenced by an increasing internationalization of sport, technological advances and mounting urbanization and commercialization, all of which enabled sportsmen, and women, to make greater entrepreneurial use of their expertise. However, constraints on traditional practice also emerged through the formation of governing bodies of sport by middle-class amateurs, who espoused views that marginalized coaching and training and subsequently employed regulatory mechanisms to exclude professional coaches. This paper explores coaching continuities and changes through the lives of some London-based professional swimmers of the Victorian and Edwardian periods who made their living as competitors, entertainers, promoters, teachers and coaches.

Notes

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8. Era, 4 June 1898, 18; 19 June 1859, 14; Morning Chronicle, 29 May 1857, 7; Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, 1 May 1859, 6.

9. Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, 4 Dec. 1859, 7; 29 April 1860, 7; 22 Sept. 1861, 6; 29 Sept. 1861, 3; 6 Oct. 1861, 6; 13 Oct. 1861, 3; 20 Oct. 1861, 6; 1 Dec. 1861, 7; 22 Dec. 1861, 6; 2 Feb. 1862, 6; 9 Feb. 1862, 6.

10. Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, 22 Dec. 1861, 6; 29 Dec. 1861, 3; 9 Aug. 1863, 6; Era, 8 July 1877, 4; British Library Henry Evans Evanion Collection Evan. 1605 poster.

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13. Metropolitan Swimming Association minutes, 8 Feb. 1872; 9 Sept. 1872.

14. The Times, 7 Oct. 1863, 12.

15. Warwick Wroth, Cremorne and the Later London Gardens (London, 1907).

16. Penny Illustrated, 19 June 1869, 7; 9 July 1870, 11.

17. Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, 25 Nov. 1871, 8. Penny Illustrated, 13 Oct. 1883, 11.

18. Census returns, Thomas Attwood. 1871 (611/86/17); 1881 (534/40/24); 1891 (352/70/8).

19. Era, 15 Aug. 1858, 14; 3 Oct. 1858, 13; 26 June 1859, 13; 28 Aug. 1859, 14.

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21. Matthew Webb, The Art of Swimming (London, 1875), 44, 76; Charles Newman, Swimmers and Swimming or, the Swimmers Album (London, 1899), 2, 29; Robert Watson, ‘Comparative Generations’, in Swimmers and Swimming, ed. Newman, 18.

22. Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, 21 Dec. 1878, 9; 28 Dec. 1878, 9.

23. Penny Illustrated, 2 July 1892, 14.

24. Census Returns, David Pamplin 1861 (237/129/25); 1871 (289/70/52); 1881 (1320/60/43); 1891 (608/76/64); 1901 (666/35/37); 1911 (RG14PN3528RG78PN131RD40SD2ED31SN177).

25. Era, 17 Aug. 1873, 3; 4 July 1875, 5; Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper, 21 June 1874, 5.

26. Census Returns, Richard T. Giles 1881 (358/98/24); 1891 (164/136/28); 1901 (1681/37/20); 1911 (RG14PN10152RG78PN533BRD195SD2ED40SN29).

27. Licensed Victuallers’ Mirror, 24 Sept. 1889, 416.

28. Licensed Victuallers’ Mirror, 15 April 1890, 174.

29. Penny Illustrated, 2 July 1892, 14.

30. Census Returns, Henry Pearce 1881 (82/57/8); 1891 (112/78/67); Henry and Minnie Pearce 1901 (97/137/6); 1911 (RG14PN261RG78PN8RD3SD2ED35SN117).

31. David Mitch, ‘Literacy and Occupational Mobility in Rural versus Urban Victorian England: Evidence from the Linked Marriage Register and Census Records for Birmingham and Norfolk, 1851 and 1881’, Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History 38, no. 1 (2005): 26–38.

32. Swimming Association of Great Britain committee minutes, Aug. 1881; British Library Evan. 1565 notice; Evan. 1275 notice; Evan. 2624A programme; Evan. 1672 notice; Evan. 985 notice; Evan. 6055 advertisement; Evan. 6736 advertisement.

33. Census returns, 1911 Charles Whyte and Emma (RG14PN170RG78PN6RD2SD3ED6SN165); Charles Whyte junior (RG14PN744 RG78PN26RD9SD4ED1SN43).

34. News of the World, 26 Dec. 1886 advert; British Library Evan. 487 poster; Evan. 500 poster; Evan. 996 programme.

35. Penny Illustrated, 22 Sept. 1883, 10; Census Returns, Alfred W. Ward, Minnie and Alfred 1881 (172/13/20); Alfred W., Alfred E., Florence, Ernest and Maud Ward 1891 (22/86/1); Minnie Ward 1891 (82/73/13).

36. Census Returns, 1891 (82/72/12), St Margaret and St John the Evangelist, Westminster, 2 and 3 Tothill Street, Frederick Edward Beckwith, Married, 66, ‘professor of swimming’, Lizzie Beckwith, daughter, 12; Robert Beckwith, son, 7; Olivette Flower, single, 16, ‘professional swimmer’, b. Kent, Canterbury; Minnie Ward, 20, ‘professional swimmer’, b. Gateshead on Tyne.

37. Census Returns, John Howarth 1861 (4440/252/18); 1871 (3874/119/37); John, Agnes, Frances and Edith A. Howarth 1881 (3750/55/40); 1891 (3036/133/37).

38. David Day, ‘“A Modern Naiad”. Nineteenth Century Female Professional Natationists’ (paper presented at ‘Women and Leisure 1890–1939’, Women's History Network Conference – Midlands Region, 8 Nov. 2008).

39. Licensed Victuallers’ Mirror, 15 April 1890, 174.

40. Census Returns, Easton 1881 (337/61/1818); 1891 (141/84/67); 1901 (1253/76/40); Classey (Clarrey) 1881 (1009/5/4); 1891 (96/68/26); 1901 (110/61/10); Charlotte Humphrey 1871 (165/19/30); Charlotte and Jane Humphrey 1881 (31/10/13); 1891 (22/91/11); 1901 (23/123/12); 1911 (RG14PN162RG78PN5RD2SD2ED21SN99).

41. London Swimming Association committee minutes, 22 July 1869; 26 Aug. 1869; extraordinary meeting, 9 Sept.; 14 Oct. 1869; Swimming Association of Great Britain committee minutes, 14 Jan. 1878; 30 May 1881; Swimming Association of Great Britain committee reports, 1881 and 1882.

42. Manchester Guardian, 3 June 1895, 7.

43. Amateur Swimming Association committee minutes, 16 Nov. 1895; 16 March 1901; 18 May 1901; 24 Aug. 1901; 31 May 1902.

44. Daniels, Johannson and Sinclair, How to Swim and Save Life, 110.

45. Archibald Sinclair, Swimming and Life Saving (London, 1906), 6.

46. Archibald Sinclair and William Henry, Swimming (London, 1893), 355.

47. Amateur Swimming Association committee minutes, 21 Sept. 1894; Amateur Swimming Association annual general meeting minutes, 14 April 1894; 30 March 1895.

48. Swimming Association of Great Britain committee minutes, 30 May 1881; Swimming Association of Great Britain committee reports, 1881 and 1882.

49. Sporting Life, 9 July 1881, 4; Ralph Thomas, Swimming (London, 1904), 357; Swimming Association of Great Britain committee minutes, Aug. 1881, including a circular from the PSA detailing their officers and rules, which had been received by the SAGB hon. sec. on 8 August.

50. Swimming Association of Great Britain committee minutes, 11 July 1881; Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, 16 July 1881, 9.

51. Penny Illustrated, 20 Feb. 1886, 7.

52. Penny Illustrated, 4 Sept. 1875, 13.

53. News of the World, 25 April 1886, 8.

54. News of the World, 2 May 1886, 8.

55. Penny Illustrated, 10 April 1886, 10.

56. Penny Illustrated, 24 Oct. 1886, 8.

57. Thomas, Swimming, 357.

58. Licensed Victuallers' Mirror, 7 Oct. 1890, 474; 28 Oct. 1890, 510; Graphic, 30 Aug. 1890, 237.

59. Licensed Victuallers' Mirror, 7 April 1891, 162; 21 April 1891, 186; 28 April 1891, 198; 18 Aug. 1891, 390; 27 Oct. 1891, 509.

60. Sinclair and Henry, Swimming, 341.

61. William Wilson, The Swimming Instructor: A Treatise on the Arts of Swimming and Diving (London, 1883), 24–7.

62. Sinclair and Henry, Swimming, 27–31.

63. Sinclair and Henry, Swimming, 27; H.R. Austin, How to Swim (London, 1914), 14.

64. Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper, 4 Aug. 1850, 10; 10 Aug. 1851, 10; Times, 6 Aug. 1851, 6.

65. Times, 8 Nov. 1865, 4.

66. Census Returns, William Tuohy 1841, Scottish Census 493/7/24/18. 1851 (1589/425/3); 1861 (648/65/30); 1871 (1131/45/10); 1881 (1150/52/24); 1891 (2689/62/7); 1901 (986/77/6); GRO (1902/death/Portsmouth/2b/348); Annie and Ada Tuohy 1901 (3184/46/29).

67. Leonard Schwarz, ‘Professions, Elites, and Universities in England, 1870–1970’, The Historical Journal 47, no. 4 (2004): 941–944, 956–957.

68. Wilson, The Swimming Instructor, 24–7.

69. Sinclair and Henry, Swimming, 27–31.

70. Sinclair and Henry, Swimming, 353.

71. Love, ‘Social Class and the Swimming World’, 611–12.

72. Amateur Swimming Association committee report for 1899, submitted to the ASA on 24 March 1900; Sinclair, Swimming and Life Saving (London, 1906), 8.

73. Keil and Wix, In the Swim, 25.

74. Amateur Swimming Association committee report for 1902; Amateur Swimming Association committee minutes, 12 May 1900; Census Returns, 1901 (674/89/20), Muriel Austin b. 1878 Ryde Isle of Wight. Daughter of Frederick Austin Watchmaker/Jeweller. ‘Swimming Instructress’.

75. Manchester Guardian, 2 May 1904, 3.

76. E.P. Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class (London, 1980), 259–62.

77. Baily's Monthly Magazine of Sports and Pastimes XLII, no. 288 (Feb. 1884): 45.

78. Swedish Olympic Committee, The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912, ed. E. Bergvall, trans. E. Adams-Ray (Stockholm: Wahlstrom and Widstrand, 1913), 965.

79. Census 1911, Walter Brickett (RG14PN714RG78PN25RD9SD3ED4SN130).

80. Sinclair and Henry, Swimming, 234; Thomas, Swimming, 379.

81. Times, 20 Aug. 1904, 9; Jabez Wolffe, The Text-book of Swimming (London, 1910), 58–74; Daily Mirror, 22 Aug. 1913, 3.

82. Amateur Swimming Association committee minutes, 1908, 119; St Pancras Chronicle, 132, Great College Street, Camden Town, NW1, undated.

83. Times, 4 March 1912, 15; Amateur Swimming Association committee minutes, 1912, 150, report of the Selection Committee, Stockholm Olympic Games 1912.

84. For a more complete biography of Walter Brickett see Day, ‘From Barclay to Brickett’, ch. 1; David Day, ‘Walter Brickett: A Respectable Professor’ (paper presented at Recording Leisure Lives Conference, Leisure Studies Association, Bolton Museum, 7 April, 2009).

85. British Library Evan. 2768 poster; Swimming Notes, 23 Feb., 7; British Library Evan. 1245 notice.

86. Graphic, 29 Oct. 1887, 482; Penny Illustrated, 12 Nov. 1887, 7.

87. Swimming Notes, 22 March 1884, 4; The Swimmer: A Journal Devoted to Natation 1, no. 6 (10 April 1886): 58; British Library Evan. 1876 poster; Evan. 843 notice; Evan. 1081 notice.

88. Daily News, 20 Dec. 1889, 3.

89. Manchester Guardian, 29 Aug. 1903, 5.

90. New York Times, 11 Nov. 1894; 23 Dec. 1894; Evening Post, 17 Nov. 1897, 5; Grey River Argus, 17 Nov. 1897, 2; Wanganui Herald, 17 Nov. 1897, 3; Era, 15 Dec. 1900.

91. Hull Daily Mirror, 26 Dec. 1905.

92. New York Times, 25 Nov. 1906, 22; 13 Jan. 1907, 22; Morning Oregonian, 16 Aug. 1908, 2; Duluth News Tribune, 24 Dec. 1910, 4.

93. Duluth News Tribune, 21 Jan. 1911, 9; Morning Oregonian, 14 March 1911, 11; Duluth News Tribune, 12 Dec. 1911, 2; Census 1911, Maud Evelyn Finney (26) and Ethel Gladys Finney (21), ‘Professional Swimmers’ (RG14PN2229RG78PN76RD26SD3ED9SN317).

94. Pierre Bourdieu, Practical Reason: On the Theory of Action (Cambridge, 1998).

95. Amateur Swimming Association committee minutes, 24 Sept. 1898.

96. Amateur Swimming Association committee minutes, 20 Dec. 1902.

97. Daily Mirror 14 Oct. 1912.

98. Times, 2 Sept. 1913, 11; 27 Sept. 1913, 10; 16 Jan. 1914, 55.