HISTORICAL NOTE.

Wash-hand Basins / Washbasins / Basins were originally referred to as 'lavatories', from the Latin, 'lavare', meaning 'to wash'. People began euphemistically to say that they were "going to the lavatory" (i.e. to wash their hands) when in truth they intended to visit the W.C.. By the mid-twentieth century, the word had become so synonymous with the Water Closet that since then most people have considered 'lavatory' the correct term!

Hence in our early catalogues, washbasins are found under the subject heading 'Lavatories'.

Even more confusingly, the W.C. is often referred to as a 'Pedestal basin'! However, in America, 'lavatory' is still used for the Wash-hand Basin.

The W.C. is still called a "W.C." although many in the U.S. call it a "Crapper", after our founder!