Daniel Lambert

Background

LAMBERT, DANIEL, an Englishman famous for his great size, was born near Leicester on the 13th of March 1770, the son of the keeper of the jail, to which post he succeeded in 1791.

Career

His size and weight increased enormously, and though he had led an active and athletic life he weighed in 1793 thirty-two stone (448 lb).

In 1806 he resolved to profit by his notoriety, and resigning his office went up to London and exhibited himself. He died on the 216t of July 1809, and at the time measured 5 ft. 11 in. in height and weighed S*i tone (739 lb). His waistcoat, now in the Kings Lynn Museum, measures 102 in. round the waist. His coffin contained 112 ft. of elm and was built on wheels. His name has been used as a synonym for immensity.

Achievements

• His enormous proportions were depicted on a number of tavern signs, but the best portrait of him, a large mezzotint, is preserved at the British Museum in Lyson's Collectanea.

References

• Freaks: the Pig-Faced Lady of Manchester Square