R. T. Claridge

Captain Richard Tappin Claridge, FSA (c. 1797[1]/1799[2][a] – 5 August 1857),[3] was a prominent asphalt contractor and captain in the Middlesex UK Militia, who became best known for his prominent promotion of hydropathy, now known as hydrotherapy, in the 1840s.[4][5] It was also known as the Cold Water system or Cold Water cure.[b] Claridge is widely credited with introducing the methods of Vincent Priessnitz to England, thus initiating the populist movement of the time.[6][c] Indeed, much of what is popularly known about Priessnitz in the English-speaking world comes from two seminal publications. Firstly, Claridge's Hydropathy; or The Cold Water Cure, as practised by Vincent Priessnitz... (1842 & 1843).[7][8][9] Secondly, Richard Metcalfe's Life of Vincent Priessnitz (1898),[10] with Metcalfe himself drawing upon Claridge, although Metcalfe also later wrote a historical overview and added more about Claridge and his role in the promotion of hydropathy.[11]

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