Object Lesson: Approaching Nineteenth-Century Swimming Through the Von Hammer Probate Inventory

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article borrows from material culture approaches to historical research to investigate the development of swimming baths and bathing culture in Sydney in the late nineteenth century. Specifically, it draws upon a probate inventory of effects and belongings of Ferdinand Von Hammer (1830–1889), a leading Sydney baths lessee and swimming instructor in the 1870s and 1880s. Swimming in this period is under-researched, and the Danish-born proprietor is a forgotten figure. He died at his leased Saywell’s Baths at Rockdale in Botany Bay, and his probate inventory includes objects that were integral to the operation of those facilities. It is a rare document that offers insight into the development of swimming culture in this period, the growing complexity of baths management, and suggests intersections with other social, cultural and economic aspects of swimming. Whereas material culture research more typically involves study of extant objects, this methodology fits with an alternative approach that engages with aggregated lists of items such as probate and other inventories and trade data. By grouping various related objects, this article focuses on lifesaving, swimming instruction and entertainment dimensions to extend knowledge of Australian swimming cultures.