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Richard Russell (26 November 1687 – 1759)was an 18th-century
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
who encouraged his patients to use a form of water therapy that involved the submersion or bathing in, and drinking of,
seawater Seawater, or sea water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has approximat ...
. The contemporary equivalent of this is thalassotherapy, although the practice of drinking seawater has largely discontinued.


Early life

Richard Russell was the son of Nathaniel Russell, a surgeon of
Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...
, in Sussex, who at one time owned Ranscomb Manor, in South Malling, near Lewes. He was the eldest of seven children, his siblings being: Mary (b. 1689), John (b. 1691), Nathaniell (b. 1694), Elizabeth (b. 1695/96), Hannah (b. 1699), and Charity (b. 1701).


Medical career

Russell began his medical practice in
Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...
in 1725. Records indicate that in 1742, he purchased a manor in Ditchling from Thomas Godfrey, John Legas, and Legas' wife Judith. "Between 1758 and 1760 it passed to Dr Russell's son William Russell, who assumed his mother's surname of Kempe, and he held it until 1787", after which it was owned by John Ingram, and thence Charles James Ingram.


Brighton

Around 1747, Russell went to Brighton to exploit his theories on the medical properties of seawater. In 1750, he published a Latin dissertation ''De Tabe Glandulari'', in which he recommended the use of seawater for the cure of enlarged lymphatic glands. This was translated into English in 1752 as ''Glandular Diseases, or a Dissertation on the Use of Sea Water in the Affections of the Glands'' by W. Owen in London, and in 1769 it reached a sixth edition. It was the first book to make a connection between drinking and bathing in seawater and improvements in health. Russell recommended especially that people try the water near
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
, proclaiming that sea water was superior to those cures provided by inland spas. His ideas were widely acclaimed in England and abroad, and despite dispute regarding the best ways to use seawater, "few disputed its value". By 1753, his treatments became so popular that he moved his surgery to Brighton. He bought a plot of land at the south of Old Steine, for £40 (£ as of ). The land is where the Royal Albion Hotel now stands. It was in a sheltered, marshy area of
common land Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...
. The red-brick,
gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
d structure was Brighton's largest house to date, and accommodated both patients and Russell himself. The rear opened directly out to the beach. Russell's efforts have been credited with playing a role in the populist "sea side mania of the second half of the eighteenth century", although broader social movements were also at play. The plaque on the wall of the Royal Albion Hotel says simply: "If you seek his monument, look around". After Russell's death in 1759, his house was rented to seasonal visitors, including the brother of
George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...
the Duke of Cumberland in 1779. On 7 September 1783 the Prince Regent (then the Prince of Wales) visited his uncle. The Prince's subsequent patronage of the town for the next 40 years was central to the rapid growth of the town and the transition of the fishing village of ''Brighthelmston'' to the modern town of ''Brighton''. He was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
in February 1752.


Burial

Russell was buried at South Malling (St Michael), at the time a separate village near Lewes with a church dedicated to St Michael. Russell's oldest son William was his heir. A condition of the inheritance was that he had to change his name to Kempe, that of his maternal grandfather, 'if he was to enjoy the estate settled on his mother'. This stipulation was made in his grandfather's will. The inheritance included about 1300 acres of land in east Sussex. Russell's practice at Brighton passed to a Dr Anthony Relhan.


Notes


References


Sources

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Further reading


''Doctor Brighton: Richard Russell and the sea water cure'', Sakula A., J Med Biogr. 1995 Feb;3(1):30-3.
Pay-per-view article. {{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Richard 1687 births 1759 deaths People from Lewes 18th-century English medical doctors Fellows of the Royal Society