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Dr Richard Russell
Oil painting by Benjamin Wilson, c1755.
The painting shows a stern looking gentleman in a frock coat and wig against a dark background.
To the right of the picture is an open book.
This is Dr Richard Russell, who popularised both sea bathing and drinking seawater, particularly in Brighton.
The book is his treatise on sea water treatments.
Russell built a large house where the Royal Albion Hotel now stands – the biggest house in Brighton at the time, big enough to house visiting patients.
His claims for the medicinal use of seawater were new at the time. His remedies also included other ingredients – woodlice, tar and crabs’ eyes.
These remedies were well-received at the time, but do you think they worked? Would you drink Brighton seawater today?
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