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A brief biography of Joseph Carey Merrick: The Elephant Man |
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Joseph was born on 5th August 1862 at 50 Lee Street, Leicester, England. His parents were named as Joseph Rockley Merrick, who was a warehouseman, and Mary Jane Merrick, who suffered from a crippling condition. The family was completed by two younger siblings, brother William Arthur Merrick and sister Marian Eliza Merrick. Marian was also born as a cripple.
Early Warning Joseph was apparently free from any noticeable deformities when he was born, but at around the age of twenty-one months his lower-lip began to swell. This turned into a hard tumour in the right cheek of the baby Merrick, causing his mother obvious concern. However, she could not have foreseen the monstrous proportions to which this development would eventually take. As he grew, so did the deformities. A bony lump appeared on the forehead, his skin started to become loose and rough, and his right arm and feet began to look peculiar. The most disturbing part for Mary Merrick was a long 'snout-like' lump of flesh that extended several inches from out of her son's upper-lip. Poor Joseph was to suffer further discomfort, when at the age of 3 he fell heavily, damaging his left hip. The family were too poor to afford proper treatment so the hip became diseased, this left him permanently lame.
Family LossesIn 1870, just before Christmas, Joseph's brother William fell seriously ill with scarlet fever. His condition rapidly deteriorated and within twenty-four hours he was dead. This laid a heavy burden on the shoulders of his suffering mother who had two crippled children and a shop to manage. In three years she too became seriously ill, this time with broncopneumonia. On Thursday 19th May 1873 she died. |
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It did not take his father long to re-marry and by the end of 1874 Joseph had a new stepmother and step-siblings. To his dismay Joseph was rejected by his new family and was forced to look for work, eventually getting a job at a cigar factory. After two years he became a door-to-door hawker. When he spent all his wages on food for himself, he was severely beaten by his father and turned out onto the streets for good. He found refuge with his uncle Charles, a barber, the only member of his family who still gave him any consideration. But even this fell apart when Joseph couldn't keep up with his work and failed to have his hawking license renewed. Joseph new his uncle couldn't afford to keep him on, so in the last days of 1879 he had no choice but to enter the Leicester Union Workhouse. Seeing his deformities the authorities had no hesitation in allowing him shelter. He was on his own from now on. |
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A Way OutLife in the workhouse was a nightmare. After four years Joseph was desperate to find a way out. The only thing to have broken the monotony was an operation to remove the fleshy snout which had become too large. In his despair he wrote to a local showman, Sam Torr, asking to take him on as an exhibit. After a meeting, Mr Torr agreed to the request and Joseph joined him on a tour of the country. The 'Elephant Man' was born. |
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The arrangement with Torr eventually led to Joseph joining up with a man named Tom Norman, an exhibitor of London. It became a fruitful partnership for both, and for the first time in many years Joseph was given comfort and a decent wage to live on. He settled into exhibition life in a shop in the Whitechapel area of London, near to the London Hospital. This location attracted a lot of interest from doctors who were keen to see the freak of nature. By now Merrick's condition has enhanced greatly, his head was huge, he had large boils and lumpy skin. His right arm was nothing more than an oversized club, and the same could be said about his legs and feet. All that was normal was his left arm, which had a feminine look to it. |
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One such doctor that came to see him was Frederick Treves. He arranged a private viewing for a small fee, and being horrified but intrigued by what he saw, managed to convince Tom Norman to allow Joseph an examination at the nearby hospital. Treves, a gifted young surgeon, examined him a few times, but the next request was turned down. Joseph was angered at being stripped naked and shown to Treves' colleagues. This was the last Treves would see of Joseph for some time.
End Of The ShowBy 1885 public opinion was changing. Freakshows were no longer considered morally acceptable, and the police were obliged to close them down. This meant the end of the show for Joseph in Britain. While he had no problem exhibiting himself, the masses decided they knew better. It was degrading, a disgrace to human dignity they said. So Joseph would have to give up his only means of making a decent wage, a time which had so far been the happiest time of his life. In a last attempt to continue working, he went to exhibit in Belgium with a Mr Ferrari. It failed, the distaste for freakshows becoming as apparent in Europe as it had in Britain. |
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