This is the town of Stamford, and that gorgeous young woman in the photo
is my youngest daughter, Christina. We called into the "The George" - a
grand old hotel - for tea and scones during her visit to the U.K. last March.
Do you see that beam high above the road ? It's been said that in ye olde days,
law-breakers were hung from this beam and carcasses left there to rot as a
warning to any hooligans, upon their entering Stamford city limits. I've never
been able to verify this but you can bet, I was on my best behaviour during my
visit - no littering, jaywalking or loitering. And to insure I wouldn't end up as
bird kibble, I kissed a little bit of Mayor derriere and washed his car, weeded his
flower garden and walked his poodle.
This spherical, young fella is Daniel Lambert - who lived from 1770 and died
in 1809. I bought this postcard at The George. Daniel, had a bit of celebrity
status back in the day and would frequent the pubs in Stamford, challenging
persons to a foot race - the stipulation being that they give him a small head start.
Now there were many narrow passages connecting the main streets of Stamford,
and Daniel, once ahead of his competitors, would use these alleys - his size made
it impossible for anyone to get past him and so he always won. He sounds like a
mischievous guy - just my type.
His amazing physical statistics were as follows:
Height - 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Waist - 9 ft 4 in ( 284 cm)
Calf - 3 ft 1 in (94 cm)
Weight - 739 pounds (52 stone)
I've looked at this portrait postcard many times, studying his face and eyes
and I'm convinced that everything said about him, that he was kindly and
compassionate, was true. As a child, Daniel was of ordinary weight.
He claims he didn't drink, and ate normal portions but continued to gain size.
Daniel took over his Father's job as Keeper of a small prison and it's recorded
that he took very good care of the prisoners and gained their respect for his
benevolence. After the prison shut down and he lost his yearly salary of £21 ($31)
Daniel traveled to London and put himself on display for money, like a circus
oddity. He hated having to do this and felt it demoralizing. At the end of the day
though, it afforded him to have specialized clothes made and an extra large
carriage constructed for traveling.
In 1809, when Daniel was thirty nine years old - he came to Stamford to attend
the horse races and it was there, that he died suddenly during the night. In order
to remove his body from the room, a window had to be taken out and an entire
wall demolished. It took twenty men to lower Daniel into his grave. He rests in
St. Martins Churchyard, in Stamford.
And so it is - the history of Daniel Lambert.