Papers and talks

I have regretfully decided that it is now more important to add new material to the website than spend time preparing and giving any further talks. One's personal free time disappears too rapidly as one heads towards one's ninth decade.

Many thanks to all those who invited me to give talks over the past few years; they seem to have been enjoyed, and I have certainly enjoyed giving them.

Previous papers and talks

‘Not wholly beneath the dignity of a pig’: the provision of Turkish baths for animals in Victorian London and Middlesex

A paper given on 18 November 2023 at the LAMAS 57th Local History Conference, The London Menagerie: Animals in London History, at the Museum of London Docklands.

        

Some like it (very) hot: the Victorian Turkish bath

A Victorian Society Supper Lecture given on 27 March 2018 to members of the society.

          

The Victorian Turkish bath and Swindon
An illustrated talk given on 19 October 2017 to members of Swindon Civic Voice, at the Central Community Centre, Swindon. 

 

Leisurely loafing or rigorous regime: the contrasting provision of Turkish baths by two railway companies
A paper given on 4 March 2017 at the SpLeisH International Sport and Leisure History Colloquium at Manchester Metropolitan University, Cheshire Campus, Crewe. 

 

Some like it (very) hot: the Victorian Turkish bath and Liverpool
An illustrated talk given on 5 November 2016 to members of The Liverpool Group of The Victorian Society, The Quaker Meeting House, 22 School Lane, Liverpool L1 3BT.

 

Some like it (very) hot: the Victorian Turkish bath and the Jermyn Street Hammam
An illustrated talk given on 7 June 2016 to members of The London Library, St James's Square.

 

Some like it (very) hot: the Victorian Turkish bath and Leeds
An illustrated talk given on 25 April 2016 to a joint meeting of the Leeds Centre for Victorian Studies, Leeds Trinity University, and The Leeds Library.

 

Manchester: English home of the Irish-Roman (or 'Turkish') bath
An illustrated talk given on 26 January 2016 to a joint meeting of the Manchester Group of The Victorian Society and the Victoria Baths Trust at Friends House, Manchester.

 

Happiness, solace, and brightness": the Turkish bath in Victorian asylums
A paper given on 31 July 2012 at the Leeds Centre for Victorian Studies conference on Disability & the Victorians: confronting legacies held at Leeds Trinity University College.

The content of this paper has been split into several pages dealing separately with each of the asylums discussed. These pages relate to the asylum Turkish baths at: Cork; Denbigh; Hayward's Heath, Sussex; Limerick; London, Colney Hatch; Virginia Water, The Holloway Sanatorium; Wakefield; and The Retreat, York.

     

Sweltering since 1938: Ironmonger Row and the Victorian Turkish bath
An illustrated talk given on 17 June 2011 as part of the Holloway Arts Festival.

     

"Charming away the condition of irritability and suspicion": the provision and use of a Turkish bath at The Retreat, York
A paper given on 13 May 2011 at a Birmingham City University conference on Insanity and the lunatic asylum in the nineteenth century held in the chapel of the Birmingham Lunatic Asylum.

     

The Victorian Turkish bath: Victorian? Turkish? a bath?
A presentation given on 13 October 2010 at the Manchester Architecture Research Centre (MARC), School of Environment and Development, University of Manchester.

     

Heritaging the Victorian Turkish bath: creating a saleable asset
A paper given on 26 June 2008 at a conference on Heritage and the Victorians at the Gladstone Centre for Victorian Studies in Wales and the North West, Hawarden

     

"Not wholly beneath the dignity of a pig": the Victorians’ provision of Turkish baths for their animals
A paper given on 1 September 2007 at the British Association for Victorian Studies (BAVS) Conference on Victorian cultural industries and elites held at the University of Salford

     

"Classical porticos" and "touches of eastern grandeur": the Victorian Turkish bath
A paper given on 1 October 2004 at a conference on Victorian visions at Clare College, University of Cambridge

     

"The ladies ought to have at least three nights in the week": women and the Victorian Turkish bath
A paper given on 14 September 2003 at the 12th Annual Conference of the Women's History Network on Contested terrains: gendered knowledge, landscapes, and narratives at King's College, University of Aberdeen, Scotland

     

Nothing but a load of hot air: some problems, conflicts, and controversies arising during the development of the Victorian Turkish bath
A paper given on 5 September 2003 at the British Association for Victorian Studies (BAVS) Conference on The Age of experiments, 1800-1900 held at the University of Wales Aberystwyth

     

"Semi-success" in London: David Urquhart, the London and Provincial Turkish Bath Company Ltd, & the London Hammam
A paper given on 10 July 2003 at the Monuments and Dust Conference on Victorian London  held at Regent's College, London

     

Clean in body and mind: David Urquhart’s Foreign Affairs Committees and the Victorian Turkish Bath Movement
A paper given on 25 July 2002 at the conference on Infection and contamination held at Edge Hill College, Lancs.

     

Performance in the raw: some aspects of the ritual of the Victorian Turkish bath
A paper given on 8 September 2001 at the British Association for Victorian Studies (BAVS) Conference on Performance and performativity in the culture and society of the nineteenth century held at the University of Lancaster.

     

Some like it (very) hot: the Victorian Turkish bath arrives in 19th century London
A paper given on 11 July 2001 at the Monuments and Dust Conference on London in the Nineteenth Century held at the Institute for Historical Research, London.

This section last updated 19 November 2023

'The Salisbury Turkish Baths' The Fisherton Informer (Number 34, February 2023) pp.16-19 illus (24 refs)

'Women and the Victorian Turkish bath' HerStoria (Issue 2, Summer 2009) pp.46-50 illus

' "A dream to keep you happy for a week": the Dalston Junction Turkish baths and two that never happened' Hackney history (Vol.14, 2008) pp.38-49 illus (33 refs)

'Ephemeral documents of an ephemeral institution: researching the Victorian Turkish bath' The Ephemerist (No.142, Autumn 2008) pp.20-29 illus

'A Load of hot (dry) air' Time Out London; edited by Ruth Jarvis (London : Time Out, 2005) p.183

'The Victorian Turkish bath' The Gilded lily (Summer 2002) pp.14-15 illus

'The Turkish-bath baby-death mystery' Hertfordshire's past (No.45, Autumn 1998) pp.24-31 illus (16 refs)

'Two Turkish baths in Jermyn Street' Notes and queries (Vol.241, No 4, Dec 1996) p.430

'Getting excited over a load of hot air: local history and the Victorian Turkish bath' Local history magazine (No.57, Sep/Oct 1996) pp.10-13 illus

'Victorian Turkish baths? "Never been asked for those before" ' Picture postcard monthly (No.201, Jan 1996)  pp.29-31 illus

'Some like it (very) hot' The Ephemerist (No.91, Dec 1995) pp.614-8 illus

'Turkish baths in Calderdale: a letter to the editor' Transactions of the Halifax Antiquarian Society (Vol.3, 1995) pp.9-10 (4 refs)

This page last updated 19 November 2023

150 years of the Victorian Turkish bath

A display about the bath, including an opportunity to see and query the Information Exchange, presented as part of the Locating the Victorians Conference held at Imperial College and the three Albertopolis museums on 12-15 July 2001.

At "Locating the Victorians" conference, July 2001

'…Malcolm Shifrin’s 150 Years of the Victorian Turkish Bath particularly impressed me…' Journal of Victorian culture, writing about the display at Locating the Victorians.

This page last updated 19 November 2023