George Witt FRS (25 March 1804 – 20 February 1869) was a medical doctor, banker and mayor known for his collection of erotic objects.

[1] Witt studied to become a physician at Northampton General Infirmary before he worked briefly for the East India Company.

[4] Witt however failed to become an Alderman in Bedford until 1845 as his first application was turned down as he was not thought to have been a first class mayor a decade before.

The collection included modern photographs of women partially dressed as gladiators which were not thought to be academic artefacts but they were designed to be erotic.

[3] In general however Witt's collection covered the major civilisations of Greece, Rome, Egyptian, Indian, Chinese, Tibetan, Japanese and Native American.

[5] In the late 1850s, Witt was much influenced by his long-standing friend, David Urquhart, who in 1857 had just opened England’s first Victorian Turkish bath in Manchester.

[8] Witt was one of the first who acted upon this suggestion, converting a room in his Knightsbridge home into an effective Turkish bath as early as 1858.

Although it was only a single room, bathing in the hot air at different temperatures was achieved by arranging seating at different levels.

Witt became a strong advocate of the Turkish bath and was responsible for introducing many friends, especially medical practitioners, to its therapeutic possibilities.

Among his guests were dermatologist Erasmus Wilson (who went on to write a book on the bath),[9] Thomas Spenser Wells, Queen Victoria's surgeon and president of the Royal College of Surgeons,[10] Charles Lockhart Robertson (who successfully introduced the bath into the Sussex and District Lunatic Asylum at Haywards Heath),[11] and William Joseph Goodwin, Queen Victoria’s personal vet (who installed a Turkish bath for the Queen’s horses at Hampton Court Palace Mews).