COSSIC Annick

Bath and Pyrmont were each renowned for their waters in the long eighteenth century. Bath set up an innovative model of spa sociability that supposedly exemplified the main principles of an ‘open society,’ while Pyrmont also defined a new approach to spa life but along different lines.

William Wilberforce (1759-1833) was a key figure in the successive campaigns for the abolition of the slave trade and of slavery in Britain. His long parliamentary speeches were crucial in the success of his fight, but it is primarily his personality and the moral virtues he came to embody that were decisive.

The ancient city of Bath renowned for its waters ever since the Roman era played a decisive role in reinventing spa sociability in the first half of the eighteenth century. At a time when the British nation was being forged, manners were crucial in the rivalry with France, as they were redefined in an attempt to create a distinct model of sociability.

Hannah More, a woman of letters, was a Christian activist and philanthropist. Her sociable life in Britain’s major social centers, London and Bath, enabled her to use her closeness to the bluestocking.

Richard Nash, known as Beau Nash by his contemporaries, played a decisive part in the transformation of Bath, Britain’s ancient watering-place, into a fashionable resort.